Results indicate that compared with people who slept six hours or more while being monitored in the sleep laboratory, individuals with insomnia who slept for five or fewer hours had the highest risk of diabetes (odds ratio of 2.95); people with insomnia who slept for five to six hours also had an elevated risk of diabetes (odds ratio of 2.07).

The study gathered data from 1,741 men and women who were randomly selected from Central Pennsylvania; participants were studied in a sleep laboratory. Diabetes was defined based on either fasting blood sugar or treatment. Insomnia was defined by a complaint of insomnia with a duration of at least one year, while “poor sleep” was defined as a complaint of difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or early final awakening. Polysomnographic sleep duration was classified into three categories: people who slept for six or more hours, those who slept five to six hours and those who slept for five hours or less. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for diabetes.

According to lead author Alexandros Vgontzas, MD, endowed chair in Sleep Disorders Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., patients suffering from insomnia with short sleep duration are at a serious health risk.

“The more severe form of insomnia (insomnia with short objective sleep duration) is associated with a risk for diabetes that is similar to the elevated risk associated with obstructive sleep apnea,” said Vgontzas.

Other studies also have found serious medical risks associated with insomnia and objective short sleep duration; another study led by Vgontzas that will be presented at SLEEP 2009 found that insomnia with objective short sleep duration is also associated with increased risk of mortality in men.

According to the study’s authors, findings indicate that people with insomnia should seek evaluation and treatment from their medical provider. Although the results suggest that people with insomnia have a lower risk for physical problems if their sleep duration is normal, they still are at risk for depression and may suffer from the behavioral effects of insomnia.

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The findings were presented today at the 69th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in New Orleans, and they also appear in the latest online issue of the journal The Lancet. Researchers followed more than 6,500 British civil servants without diabetes for up to 13 years, during which time they repeatedly measured insulin sensitivity and fasting and non-fasting glucose levels.

During an average follow-up of 10 years, 505 of the study participants developed type 2 diabetes. The study showed a steady upward trajectory in metabolic changes in participants who did not develop diabetes. In contrast, these changes tended to occur at different periods in those who did go on to have diabetes, and these changes were often abrupt.

Timeline to Type 2 Diabetes
Specifically, the findings revealed:

* A steady trend in fasting glucose as early as 13 years prior to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, with fasting glucose levels rising rapidly three years before diagnosis
* Glucose levels after eating (post-meal glucose) began to increase rapidly starting three years prior to diagnosis
* Insulin sensitivity began to decline steeply five years before diagnosis
* Beta-cell function — a measure of insulin production — began to increase three to four years prior to diagnosis, as the pancreas tried to compensate for increases in blood glucose by producing more insulin. Insulin production dropped precipitously in the three years prior to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

“The main addition of this study is that it shows for the first time a clear picture of the timeline to diabetes,” study co-author Daniel R. Witte, MD, of the University College London .  Witte says the timeline suggests three distinct phases in the progression to diabetes, which may require different disease prevention strategies.

During the first phase, which occurs six or more years before diagnosis, glucose levels remain relatively stable but insulin resistance increases along with insulin secretion. “This is the time when relatively straightforward lifestyle changes, like increasing physical activity, changing diet, and reducing obesity, could have the biggest impact,” he says.

The second phase of progression to disease is characterized by increased beta-cell activity as the pancreas produces more insulin to compensate for insulin resistance.  Witte says prevention efforts during this period may require more aggressive lifestyle intervention along with blood-sugar regulating medications like metformin.

During the final phase toward progression, which Witte refers to as the unstable phase, insulin production drops and blood glucose levels rise dramatically and rapidly. The study suggests that people who are generally considered to have prediabetes are in this final phase or close to it.

“We hypothesize that prevention would be more effective before this unstable period, but more research is needed to identify people at this stage of disease development.”

Source: WebMD