Sleep duration and quality are now widely accepted as important factors in the prevention and management of mental health7, cardiovascular,and metabolic conditions including type 2 diabetes1.

Normal sleep is characterised by reduced consciousness, little or no nervous activity and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles1. Sleeping for too long, or not enough, poses potential risks of obesity and Type 2 diabetes; optimum sleep should be seven to eight hours each night. There is a 9% relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes for each hour of shorter sleep, and a relative risk of 14% for each hour of longer sleep4.

So do people with Type 2 diabetes get the right amount? Taking a generalised view from available research, the simple answer would be: absolutely not. Sleep impairment is more common in females, but is prevalent among both genders7.

Reasons for this include:

  1. Lifestyle choices: excessive drinking, smoking, inactivity
  2. Societal/economic pressures: Shift work, unemployment, etc5.
  3. Associated medical conditions: Fatigue, depression, neuropathic pain and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) 5
  4. Circadian mal-alignment: Some people are either morning types (they find it relatively easy to get up early in the morning but also go to bed early) or evening types (they go to bed later and find it difficult with early starts). However, evening types are twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to morning types3

 

Here Are 7 Easy Steps to Better Sleep

  1. Get a sleep assist device, like a CPAP (continuous positive airwave pressure) on recommendation from your GP. This can help in reducing blood pressure and HbA1C levels2
  2. Exercise more. If you have problems keeping up with being active due to other associated conditions, speak to a medical professional
  3. Master your body and consult a dietician or nutritionist to help guide you through food choices and meal times that match your body clock.
  4. Speak to your employers about your condition and try to work out productive working times that would not impact on your health negatively.
  5. Stick to a sleep schedule as this can help regulate your body clock. There are medications like exogenous melatonin that help in the management of circadian rhythm disorders6. Speak to a sleep specialist if you have problems sticking to a particular bedtime.
  6. A bed time ritual like mediation could be the key to good sleep
  7. Ensure you sleep in a comfortable room (with appropriate bed, pillows and mattress) devoid of distractions.

 

References

  1. Brady, E. M. and Hall, A. P. (2016) ‘Sleep and type 2 diabetes mellitus’, Practical Diabetes, 33(1), pp. 23–26. doi: 10.1002/pdi.1993.
  2. Guest, J. F., Panca, M., Sladkevicius, E., Taheri, S. and Stradling, J. (2014) ‘Clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure to manage obstructive sleep apnea in patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.K.’, Diabetes Care, 37(5), pp. 1263–1271. doi: 10.2337/dc13-2539.
  3. Merikanto, I., Lahti, T., Puolijoki, H., Vanhala, M., Peltonen, M., Laatikainen, T., Vartiainen, E., Salomaa, V., Kronholm, E. and Partonen, T. (2013) ‘Associations of chronotype and sleep with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes’, Chronobiology International, 30(4), pp. 470–477. doi: 10.3109/07420528.2012.741171.
  4. Shan, Z., Ma, H., Xie, M., Yan, P., Guo, Y., Bao, W., Rong, Y., Jackson, C. L., Hu, F. B. and Liu, L. (2015) ‘Sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis of prospective studies’, Diabetes Care, 38(3), pp. 529–537. doi: 10.2337/dc14-2073.
  5. Vetter, C., Devore, E. E., Ramin, C. A., Speizer, F. E., Willett, W. C. and Schernhammer, E. S. (2015) ‘Mismatch of sleep and work timing and risk of type 2 diabetes’, Diabetes Care, 38(9), pp. 1707–1713. doi: 10.2337/dc15-0302.
  6. Wilson, S., Nutt, D., Alford, C., Argyropoulos, S., Baldwin, D., Bateson, A., Britton, T., Crowe, C., Dijk, D.-J., Espie, C., Gringras, P., Hajak, G., Idzikowski, C., Krystal, A., Nash, J., Selsick, H., Sharpley, A. and Wade, A. (2010) ‘British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders’, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 24(11), pp. 1577–1601. doi: 10.1177/0269881110379307.
  7. Zhu, B., Quinn, L. and Fritschi, C. (2017) ‘Relationship and variation of diabetes related symptoms, sleep disturbance and sleep-related impairment in adults with type 2 diabetes’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, (October), pp. 689–697. doi: 10.1111/jan.13482.
  8. Sleep Foundation: Healthy Sleep Tips