Too Little Sleep May Raise Diabetes Risk

A Boston University study revealed that too little sleep may raise your diabetes risk. Researchers asked 1,486 people about their sleep habits, then took blood samples to measure glucose tolerance. Folks who logged fewer than five hours of sack time were 2.5 times more likely to have diabetes than people who slept for seven or eight hours. The diabetes rate was slightly lower — 1.7 times — for those who slept six hours.

Lack of sleep triggers the release of fatty acids, forcing insulin to work overtime to clear them away, says study author Dr. Daniel Gottlieb.

The diabetes rates were also higher — by 1.7 times — for those who slept more than nine hours.

The link between diabetes and longer sleep times "is a lot harder to explain," Gottlieb said. "We don't know very much about what might be the cause. It's my belief that people who are sleeping nine hours or more a night are usually doing so because they have some underlying disorder."