Diabetics May Need to Improve Their Sleep Habits

Poor sleep habits may lead to shorter sleep duration or poor quality of sleep. A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has examined the effects of these on the severity of type 2 diabetes in African Americans.

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to score sleep quality, ranging from 0 to 21 points. A score greater than 5 indicates poor sleep quality. “Sleep debt” was calculated as the difference between actual weekday sleep duration and the preferred sleep duration. The severity of diabetes was assessed using the hemoglobin A1c level, or HbA1c, which represents the average blood glucose level over the previous 4 weeks.

Higher HbA1c levels were associated with higher PSQI scores (i.e. lower sleep quality), and more complaints of shortage of sleep. In those patients without diabetic complications, perceived sleep debt was linked with higher HbA1c levels. In patients with at least one major diabetic complication (neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, etc), poor sleep quality, but not sleep debt, was associated with increased HbA1c.

The results show that inadequate sleep (not enough, or poor quality) is associated with a deterioration of blood glucose control, as expressed by an increased HbA1c.

It remains to be seen if optimizing sleep duration and quality in diabetics would improve their glucose control. Until the necessary studies are completed to test this point, it would be prudent for diabetics to try to ensure that they get adequate, good quality sleep.