Yaaawn - Ack!

[andrewducker]

A chronic lack of sleep may cause far more serious problems than a tendency to nod off the next day. People who do not get enough sleep on a regular basis may become less sensitive to insulin which, over time, can raise the risk of obesity high blood pressure diabetes In fact, Dr. Eve Van Cauter at the University of Chicago found that chronic sleep deprivation--6.5 hours or less of sleep a night--had the same effect on insulin resistance as aging.

Just like poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress and aging, sleep loss is a risk factor (for type 2 diabetes).

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body loses its ability to respond to insulin, the body's key blood sugar-regulating hormone. This insulin resistance causes blood sugar levels to rise, which in turn can increase the risk for a number of serious medical complications including kidney damage, heart disease, blindness and lower limb amputations.

According to the study healthy adults who averaged 316 minutes of sleep a night--about 5.2 hours--over 8 consecutive nights secreted 50% more insulin than their more rested counterparts who averaged 477 minutes of sleep a night, or about 8 hours.

As a result, "short sleepers'' were 40% less sensitive to insulin.

The researchers suggest that sleep deprivation, which is becoming commonplace in industrialized countries, may play a role in the current epidemic of type 2 diabetes. A poll by the National Sleep Foundation found a steady decline in the number of hours Americans sleep each night. In 1975, the average American slept 7.5 hours, down from 9 hours in 1910. Today, adults sleep about 7 hours a night.

American Diabetes Association's Annual Meeting June 25, 2001 Philadelphia

Note that 6.5 hours of sleep a night is chronic sleep deprivation. Hands up thos people that regularly get less than that?

Comments

[rahaeli.livejournal.com]

*hands up*

Unless you mean the weekends. I average about 4-5 hours a night on weeknights, and about 12 on weekends :P

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

oo-er.

I usually get about 6 hours per night.

I suddenly feel tired. And I have a pain. :-(

Re: Yawn

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

Gee, what are you saying? (I'm at GMT-7)

[cx650.livejournal.com]

Apart from the last month during which I have been sleeping 10-12 hours a day, I am a chronic insomniac. 5 or 6 hours is bliss, a very good night's sleep. Neither situation is good. Sooner or later my sleep pattern will revert to 3 hours like is has been for about 11 years.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

6.5 hours is a surprisingly lengthy amount of sleep in Nicksville.

Huh?

[ekatarina.livejournal.com]

[Hand tied to a helium balloon rises slowly over a sleeping figure at her computer desk.]

Katja

[thadrin.livejournal.com]

I average about six...

[fire-sermon.livejournal.com]

This is really quite scary - I rarely get more than 6 hours (and sometimes its more around 5) of sleep on week nights. I wonder if napping on the bus counts? If that's the case I can add at least another hour on ...

[moniqueleigh]

I'm sooo bad. I'm such a night owl that it is very difficult for me to drag my sorry self to bed before 3am. Which would be ok if I were allowed to sleep til noon or thereabouts. :P Unfortunately, some people (i.e. employers) think I should be at work by 8am.....

On my days off (normally Sunday & Monday) though, I quite happily sleep til at least noon, sometimes later if I'm trying to catch up on previous missed sleep.

[darkoshi]

i'm not raising my hand, though i'm not really sure.
weeknights generally between 7 and 8 in-bed hrs; hard to tell how many sleep-hrs that is since sometimes i fall asleep right away and sometimes i stay awake on purpose, thinking about things. weekends usually 8-12 hrs.

i did notice last week, when i was getting less sleep than usual, that after one night where i was up really late, my nose was runny all the next day. either the beginnings of a cold which didn't develop any more than that (possibly due to my use of neti-pot), or allergies. so sleep-deprivation seems to lower one's ability to fend against illness and/or allergies too.

[allorin.livejournal.com]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

6.5 hours?

Yeah. Maybe someday, I will sleep that long again.