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Recovery sleep after restriction may counteract increased diabetes risk
The increased risk for diabetes associated with short-term sleep restriction during the work week may be alleviated with two consecutive nights of extended sleep, according to study findings.
“In this short-term study, we found that two long nights spent catching up on lost sleep can reverse the negative metabolic effects of four consecutive nights of restricted sleep,” Josiane Broussard, PhD, assistant research professor in the department of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a press release.
Josiane Broussard
Broussard and colleagues evaluated 19 healthy lean young men to determine whether two nights of recovery sleep could reverse the negative effects of short-term sleep restriction on glucose homeostasis.
Participants underwent two different sleep schedules: 8.5 hours in bed for four consecutive nights (normal sleep) and 4.5 hours in bed for four nights followed by night nights of recovery sleep, 12 hours the first night and 10 hours the second night (restricted sleep). An IV glucose tolerance test was performed after each sleep period to evaluate insulin sensitivity, acute insulin response to glucose and disposition index (ie, insulin sensitivity times acute insulin response to glucose). Standardized meals were given 24 hours before each IV glucose tolerance test.
During normal sleep, participants slept an average 7.8 hours compared with 4.3 hours during sleep restriction and 9.7 hours during sleep recovery (P < .001). Researchers observed a 23% reduction in insulin sensitivity after sleep restriction relative to normal sleep; this was improved to similar levels of normal sleep after the recovery period. There also was a 16% reduction in the disposition index after sleep restriction relative to normal sleep, which also improved to normal levels after the recovery period.
“Though this is evidence that weekend catch-up sleep may help someone recover from a sleep-deprived week, this was not a long-term study, and our subjects went through this process only once,” Broussard said in the release. “Going forward, we intend to study the effects of extended weekend sleep schedules in people who repeatedly curtail their weekday sleep.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: Will also add once online.