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Sleeping difficulty increases diabetes risk in women
Healthy women with sleep disorders are significantly more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, with the risk decreasing after adjusting for obesity, hypertension or depression, according to research in Diabetologia.
“The present study indicates a particularly high risk of diabetes when sleeping difficulty is combined with other sleep conditions, such as short sleep duration, snoring, sleep apnea and shift work, indicating that these conditions may exacerbate the adverse effects of each other,” Yanping Li, MD, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote.
Researchers analyzed data from 133,353 women without diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS; 2000-2010) and the NHSII (2001-2011). Sleep difficulty was assessed with the survey question, “How much of the time during the past 4 weeks have you had difficulty falling asleep?” in 2000 in the NHS and 2001 in NHSII. Participants who responded “all of the time” or “most of the time” were classified as having sleep difficulties. Information on sleep duration, snoring frequency and shift work was also recorded in the surveys; information about sleep apnea was recorded only in 2008 in the NHS.
At baseline, 5.9% of women in the NHS and 4.8% of women in NHSII reported sleep difficulty; researchers documented 6,407 cases of type 2 diabetes during 10 years of follow-up.
After adjusting for baseline lifestyle factors, researchers found that women with sleeping difficulties had a 45% greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes during 10 years when compared with women without sleep difficulties (pooled HR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.33-1.58). After adjusting for hypertension, depression and BMI, the HR fell to 1.22 (95% CI, 1.12-1.34).
Women who reported sleeping difficulty combined with frequent snoring, short sleep (less than 6 hours per night), sleep apnea in the NHS study or rotating shift work in the NHSII study had the greatest risk for type 2 diabetes (HR = 4.17; 95% CI, 2.93-5.91) when compared with women without any sleep conditions, according to researchers.
“The findings provide evidence to clinical physicians and public health researchers for future diabetes prevention among a high risk population with multiple sleep disorders,” the researchers wrote.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: One researcher reports receiving grants or lecture fees from NeuroMetrix, UCB and Xenoport; another researcher reports receiving a research grant from Jazz Pharmaceuticals.