Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night. If you sleep fewer than 7 hours, you can develop a “sleep debt.” This is a term for the negative health effects you may face by not getting enough sleep. In addition to sleepiness, irritability, and an inability to focus, sleep debt has also been linked to serious health problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. According to a study recently presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego, even a very small sleep debt puts you at a high risk of obesity and insulin resistance. Researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar looked at the BMI (body mass index), waist size, and insulin sensitivity of 522 people with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were told to keep a record of how long they slept each night, so that the researchers could figure out each person’s sleep debt. At the 12-month follow-up, the scientists found that for each 30 minutes of sleep debt, the subjects had a: 17% higher risk for obesity 39% higher risk for insulin resistance This means that missing just half an hour of sleep each [...]]]>
You are told to get plenty of sleep as part of a heart healthy lifestyle to help reduce blood pressure. However, a recent study published in the journal Neurology has found that too much sleep may actually increase stroke risks. A study by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick in England looked at over 9,000 people between the ages of 42 and 81 who had never had a stroke, and were considered “long sleepers.” The sleeping habits of the subjects were tested at baseline and four years, and the subjects were followed up 9 years after the study. It was found that getting an average of more than 8 hours of sleep a night increased stroke risk by nearly one-half, compared to those who slept 6 to 8 hours a night on average. This finding was strongest for people at least 63 years of age, while younger adults were at greater risk for stroke when they received less than 6 hours of sleep a night. Like many things in life, balance is key to optimal health. A balanced meal plan, a work-life balance, as well as having a balance of being active and getting [...]]]>
Obesity is a well known risk factor for heart disease, which in itself is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. It is also well known that eating healthier and staying active are vital to preventing or delaying the onset of obesity and diabetes. However, a study recently published in the journal?Diabetologia?found that a lack of sleep may also be a big risk factor for obesity and diabetes. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center looked at a group of healthy adult men between the ages of 18 and 30 years. In one-half of the study, the men slept for four nights at eight hours a night, while they only slept for about four hours a night in the other half of the study. When the men only had about four hours of sleep a night, they had higher levels of free fatty acids in their blood than when they had eight hours of sleep. These high levels of free fatty acids stayed high for about five hours in the morning and did not drop until overnight. Researchers say that this increase of free fatty acids in the blood is something that they see often in those at risk [...]]]>
Researchers have known for a long time that a lack of sleep–or poor quality sleep–can lead to obesity, high blood glucose levels, and type 2 diabetes. But until now, they didn’t know why. A recent study published in the journal Diabetologia has shown them one possibility. It showed that not getting enough sleep can lead to high levels of free fatty acids in the blood, which stops insulin from working as well as it should. In turn, this leads to high blood glucose levels and, eventually, type 2 diabetes. The researchers looked at 19 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 30. They let one group get eight hours of sleep each night for four nights. The other men were only allowed four hours of sleep each night. In the second group, blood levels of fatty acids spiked in the morning and stayed high for about five hours after they woke up. (In a healthy person, fatty acid levels are supposed to spike and then drop again during the night.) The group that got eight hours of sleep each night did not have this problem, which means their bodies had an easier time regulating their blood glucose levels. The [...]]]>
Stress May Make It Harder To Recover From A Heart Attack You may know that eating a balanced meal plan and staying active are important to keeping your heart healthy. But one part of a heart healthy lifestyle that seems to be forgotten is controlling stress. A recent study published in the journal Circulation has found that women between the ages of 18 and 55 may have a harder time getting better after a heart attack if they have a lot of mental stress. It suggested that these women have more mental stress than men their age because of finances, having to take care of their children, or dealing with other family care issues. This study, which was done at the Yale School of Medicine, looked at men and women ages 18 to 55 years and to see what stressful events were going on in their lives, and how well they were able to recover from a recent heart attack. Of the those surveyed, women were about one-half more likely than men to have dealt with a family conflict, about one-third more likely to have dealt with a major personal injury or illness, and about one-half more likely to [...]]]>