The Interlinked Rising Epidemic of Insufficient Sleep and Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

For healthy existence, humans need to spend one-third of their time sleeping. Any qualitative or quantitative disturbances in sleep would result in an increased prevalence of obesity, metabolic disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension. The paper aims to highlight the growing global problem of insufficient sleep and its significant impact on the rising incidence of diabetes mellitus. An extensive literature search was done in all major databases for “insufficient sleep” and “Diabetes Mellitus” for this review. Shorter (<6 h) and longer (>9 h) durations of sleep have been adversely related to insulin resistance. Though the relation between insufficient sleep and diabetes mellitus is more or less understood, little is known about how oversleeping or hypersomnia (10–12 h) increases the risk of diabetes. The relationship between sleep disturbances and diabetes is dual-sided, as chronic sleep disturbances would elevate the risk of developing insulin resistance, while diabetes would worsen the quality of sleep. Both the qualitative and quantitative disturbances in sleep significantly increase the risk of developing diabetes, which is supported by numerous community-based and hospital-based epidemiological studies discussed in this review. Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders and is characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia and increased sympathetic activity, thus leading to a higher prevalence of diabetes. Sleep therapy may serve as a low-cost method for fighting against the rising epidemic of diabetes.

Feeding Rhythms and the Circadian Regulation of Metabolism

“…Indeed, sleep duration alone is strongly associated with the development of metabolic syndrome and accounts for a large proportion of the cardiometabolic risk in shift workers (73). Sleep deprivation has also been shown experimentally to reduce insulin sensitivity (60,74) and has been strongly linked to development of obesity (75,76) and diabetes (77). Although the harms of sleep deprivation are manifold, these will not be discussed in detail in the present review.…”

Development of the Daily Time Management Scale for Use by Working People with Type 2 Diabetes

“…As glucose levels are directly dependent on food intake, dietary parameters are important for diabetes management. In addition, even with optimal nutrition and exercise for maintaining a certain life rhythm, high blood pressure, obesity, and hyperglycemia can be caused by disturbances in the circadian rhythm (Kagawa, ); mutations in clock genes can cause hypertension and hyperglycemia due to changes in circadian rhythm, whereas chronic sleep disorder has been shown to affect insulin resistance (Chattu et al, ). Therefore, we believe that “adjustment of life rhythms” plays an important role in the fluctuation of blood glucose levels.…”

“…I can eat dinner as scheduled". Meals and sleep have been shown to be associated with diabetes, and recent studies demonstrated that regular lifestyle schedules can modify the circadian rhythm and affect blood sugar control as much as the amounts of food and sleep (Chattu, Chattu, Burman, Spence, & Pandi-Perumal, 2019).…”

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“…Diabetes is a recognized as a global epidemic [1]. About 200 million diabetic people are present worldwide.…”