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

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

I beleive that they hook you up to a few instruments as well. They can work otu whther you are waking up because you stop breathing briefly, look at your REM vs non-REM and stuff like that.

I wake up from 2 to well, many, times each night, as you say, sometimes going straight back to sleep, sometimes being awake for hours.

It's not (usually) my brain running though, even when I wake very early and can't get back off. I find good nutrition helps a bit.

Having said all this, I went to bed just after midnight last night and woke when Sean's alarm went off at 7:15. That's equalling my all time record. I then went on to sleep in 5 minute chunks until I had to get up for work.

Mind you Saint always said that I was awake more than I realised - I suppose that I might wake up and go back to sleep and forget it.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

I do the occasional "waking from a leg spasm" which I've heard is connected to stopping breathing whilst dropping off to sleep.
Last night I slept almost reasonably, didn't take too long to get to sleep and I don't remember waking up that much until 8am.

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

Maybe something in the air last night?

I get semi-cramp in my calves, quads and hams a lot - if I stretch in the night, especially, it can be a fine line to tread in order not to get a nasty cramp. It doesn't seem so bad during the day for some reason (though it still happens). Maybe that's all it is.

I can't breathe if I lie on my back, I do know that. If I wake up from a hideous nightmare, I will invariably find that I'm on my back.

But, since I'm female and thin, nobody really thinks I'm a candidate for nightime breathing problems.