Lack of sleep is a common problem affecting almost all of humanity. At the same time, it has long been known that lack of sleep has an extremely negative impact on health – it provokes the development of cardiovascular and other dangerous diseases, leads to accelerated aging of the body and other negative consequences. A recent study suggests that sleep deprivation may be even more dangerous, especially for those people who regularly sleep less than 6 hours a night. They have a greatly increased risk of developing a common chronic disease that cannot be cured. The discovery came as a surprise even to the scientists themselves.
Scientists warn that sleeping less than 6 hours a day is very dangerous to health
Why you can’t sleep less than 6 hours
Scientists analyzed data from the British Biobank, which is one of the largest biomedical databases for research. In their work, they studied information about almost 250 thousand people and analyzed their health status for more than ten years. The main objective of the study was to examine the relationship between type 2 diabetes and sleep deprivation.
The average sleep duration among people was 7-8 hours. However, there were many people who did not get enough sleep. Scientists divided their data into three groups: extreme sleep deprivation (sleep three to four hours a day), moderate sleep deprivation (five hours) and mild sleep deprivation (six hours).
Scientists also analyzed data on people’s diets, such as how diet is one of the key factors in the development of diabetes. As expected, people who ate a healthy diet had a lower risk of developing diabetes. However, when people slept less than six hours, even they were much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Lack of sleep increases the risk of type 2 diabetes
How to avoid type 2 diabetes
The study reports that people who sleep five hours a night have a 16% increased risk of diabetes. But it’s even more dangerous to sleep less than five hours. In this case, the risk of developing diabetes is increased by more than 40% compared to people who sleep 7-8 hours a day.
The risk of developing diabetes is lowest in people who get enough sleep and eat healthy foods. This means consuming enough vegetables and fruits, red meat and fish. Let us remind you that, according to recent research, meat is also necessary for the human body, since it is impossible to fully replace it with plant foods.
Why diabetes occurs when you don’t get enough sleep
In type 2 diabetes, the body becomes less responsive to insulin, causing the pancreas to stop producing enough insulin in the pancreas. This hormone is necessary to regulate blood glucose levels. Glucose enters the blood with food, from where it must enter the cells. In type 2 diabetes, cells stop receiving glucose, causing it to accumulate in the blood.
Healthy food reduces the risk of developing diabetes
Scientists do not yet know exactly why this disease occurs due to lack of sleep. However, some previous studies have shown that sleep deprivation increases the amount of inflammatory markers and free fatty acids in the blood. For this reason, insulin sensitivity worsens. That is, it becomes difficult for the body to properly use insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. Accordingly, type 2 diabetes eventually develops.
But this is not the only reason. It is also known that people who do not sleep enough or whose sleep is irregular, for example due to shift work, experience disruptions in circadian rhythms, that is, the rhythms in accordance with which various processes occur in the body, including the production of hormones.
It is important not only to sleep more than 6 hours a day, but also to go to bed at the same time
Accordingly, a disruption in circadian rhythms can interfere with the production of hormones such as cortisol, glucagon, growth hormones, etc. These hormones are produced throughout the day to meet the body's energy needs and help maintain blood glucose levels. Due to problems with hormone production, the body's ability to process glucose during the day decreases.
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In addition, there are other factors that increase the risk of developing diabetes if you don't get enough sleep. For example, lack of sleep usually causes weight gain, which also contributes to the disease. All this suggests that people need to get enough sleep. It is possible that lack of sleep is one of the reasons why the incidence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. According to some estimates, by 2050, 1.3 billion people will suffer from this disease.