Sleep more on weekends to reduce diabetes risk!

Zee Media Bureau

New York: It is said that lack of sleep can increase your risk of diabetes. Now, a new study revealed that catching up on sleep on the weekend can counteract that heightened diabetes risk.

The new study shows that young people who are sleep deprived returned to normal after two nights of extended sleep

According to senior study author Esra Tasali, associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago in the US, “the study shows that young, healthy people who sporadically fail to get sufficient sleep during the work week can reduce their diabetes risk if they catch up on sleep during the weekend.”

"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, assistant research professor at University of Colorado, Boulder noted.

For the study, the researchers recruited 19 volunteers, all healthy young men. On one occasion, they were allowed to sleep normally, spending 8.5 hours in bed for four nights.

On another occasion, the same volunteers were first sleep deprived, and later they were allowed two nights of extended sleep, during which they averaged 9.7 hours of sleep.

After four nights of sleep restriction, the volunteers' insulin sensitivity -- the ability of insulin to regulate blood sugars -- decreased by 23 percent and their diabetes risk increased by 16 percent.

The new finding, published online in the journal Diabetes Care, could affect large numbers of people who work long hours.

(With Agency inputs)