A research conducted at the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico has found that people who sleep less than five hours per night for a year are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus.
“What has been found in the research is that people who sleep fewer hours have something called increased insulin resistance,” said psychiatrist and researcher Alejandro Jimenez Genchi.
The coordinator of the Sleep Clinic of the National Institute of Psychiatry explained that the cells of people with insomnia respond less to the hormone insulin, a situation that alters the regulation of glucose. Not having an adequate regulation increases the risk of people who have already problems (like prediabetes) or who have already diabetes.
He also explained that certain hormones play an important role in the appetite or satiety of people, and sleeping less than five or six hours deregulate such hormones, leading to “more appetite, less satiety and increase food consumption and probably ingest more glucose –more sugar”.
Jimenez Genchi indicated that the sleep disorder also causes three times more chances of developing hypertension and a 45 percent chance of having a myocardial infarction. “It also doubles the risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and also diseases related to the metabolic syndrome such as obesity,” the specialist said.
He explained that the three main symptoms of insomnia are problems to start sleeping, difficulty staying asleep and constantly wake up: more than three times a week for three months; a situation that affects 40 percent of the Mexican population.
“That is why it is so important to ensure more than six hours of sleep. Even it is an obvious challenge for a patient with insomnia,” he concluded.
Source: Notimex
