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Diabetes risk higher for middle-aged adults who habitually stay up late
Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia were more likely to develop in people who prefer late nights than in early risers, even with the same amount of sleep, according to recent study findings.
“Regardless of lifestyle, people who stayed up late faced a higher risk of developing health problems like diabetes or reduced muscle mass than those who were early risers,” Nan Hee Kim, MD, PhD, of Korea University College of Medicine, said in a press release. “This could be caused by night owls’ tendency to have poorer sleep quality and to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, late-night eating and a sedentary lifestyle.”
Kim and colleagues evaluated 1,620 participants aged 47 to 59 years from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study to determine whether late chronotype is related to metabolic abnormalities and body composition independent of sleep duration and lifestyle. Individual circadian preference in behavioral and biological rhythm, relative to external light-dark cycle, is determined by chronotype.
Participants completed questionnaires related to their sleep-wake cycle, sleep quality and lifestyle habits. DXA scans were used to measure total body fat and lean mass, and CT scans were used to measure abdominal visceral fat. Blood samples also were taken to evaluate participants’ metabolic health.
Overall, 29.6% of participants were classified as morning type and 5.8% as evening type; 64.5% were classified as neither.
Compared with morning chronotype, those with late chronotype were more likely to be younger, female and current smokers.
“Considering many younger people are evening chronotypes, the metabolic risk associated with their circadian preference is an important health issue that needs to be addressed,” Kim said.
Diabetes (OR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.01-2.95), metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.05-2.87) and sarcopenia (OR = 3.16; 95% CI, 1.36-7.33) were significantly associated with evening type compared with morning type after adjustment for confounding factors.
Evening type was associated with diabetes (OR = 2.98; 95% CI, 1.39-6.39) and sarcopenia (OR = 3.89; 95% CI, 1.33-11.33) in men, whereas metabolic syndrome was associated with evening type in women (OR = 2.22; 95% CI, 1.11-4.43).
“In this study, we found that evening persons were associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and sarcopenia in middle-aged adults, independing of sleep duration and lifestly,” Kim told Endocrine Today. “These results support the importance of circadian rhythms in metabolic regulation.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.