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Snoring – Sleep Loss & Your Health Part 2

The body’s glucose regulation mechanism operates quite differently during sleep than in waking hours. Blood levels of glucose are tightly regulated by the body and kept within a narrow range to avoid both hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). Both conditions have serious, even life-threatening consequences.

An early study looked at glucose tolerance in healthy young men who were subjected to 6 nights of 4 hours in bed (“sleep debt”) followed by 7 nights of 12 hours in bed (“sleep recovery”). At the end of each bedtime session, the subjects underwent an intravenous glucose tolerance test (ivGTT) and a 24-hour period of frequent blood sampling.

The amount of insulin released following glucose injection, referred to as the “acute insulin response to glucose,” was 30% lower when the subjects were in a state of sleep debt than when they were fully rested. Taken together, the findings indicated that glucose metabolism in these young adults after less than one week of sleep restriction was similar to that of older adults with impaired glucose tolerance, i.e., in a pre-diabetic state. The findings of this first “sleep debt” study were confirmed by a second study that examined the impact of sleep restriction (4 hours per night for 2 nights) and sleep extension (10 hours per night for 2 nights).

Several later studies on the possible link between diabetes and sleep loss using subjects’ self-reports of sleep times found a significant association between sleep loss and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Seven studies, from Germany, Japan, Sweden and the U.S., have been published so far.

The possibility that there could be an association between short sleep duration and diabetes was addressed in another recent study. Self-reported sleep duration, sleep quality and hemoglobin A1c levels, a key marker of glucose control, were examined in African Americans with Type 2 diabetes. Perceived sleep debt was calculated as the difference between preferred and actual sleep duration. After controlling for age, gender, BMI and insulin use, it was found that levels of hemoglobin A1c were associated with perceived sleep debt. The effect of getting more sleep was comparable to that of widely used oral anti-diabetic drugs. While these associations suggest that improving sleep duration or quality for those with Type 2 diabetes may improve glycemic control, they do not prove that sleep loss directly causes diabetes.

The mechanisms underlying changes in glucose metabolism following long-term sleep loss are complex. Sleep loss has been linked to decreased brain glucose metabolism, increased sympathetic nervous activity, elevated levels of evening cortisol, increased secretion of ghrelin and growth hormone during waking hours and increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. All of these factors are known to interfere with the body’s ability to regulate glucose.

Sleep Less, Eat More…and More
Our appetite is regulated by hormonal signals. These hormones include leptin, which creates a feeling of fullness and satisfaction, and ghrelin, an appetite-stimulator. Leptin informs the brain of the status of energy stores in fat tissue. Low energy stores and low leptin levels cause us to eat more. Ghrelin is released primarily from the stomach. Studies indicate that ghrelin is partly responsible for mealtime hunger and meal initiation. Ghrelin levels drop rapidly after we eat, then rebound after 1.5-2 hours, paralleling a return of hunger. Leptin and ghrelin exert opposing effects and have been referred to as the “yin and yang” of appetite regulation.

Sleeping and eating are fundamentally related. At the risk of stating the obvious, being awake is required for feeding and sleep requires fasting. Sleep deprivation in animals occurs mainly when there is a shortage of food and extended wakefulness is needed for foraging. Homo Sapiens may well be the only mammalian species that voluntarily deprives itself of sleep in the absence of an emergency.

In animal models, sleep loss causes increased appetite, as well as considerable stress. Rodents submitted to sleep deprivation for long periods of time increase their food intake It is not known whether sleep loss in humans under comfortable conditions, e.g., in an armchair in front of a television, has similar effects.

Sleep loss in humans causes a loss of control over appetite, promoting a kind of false hunger, unrelated to actual need. Leptin concentrations were much lower at the end of sleep restriction than at the end of the recovery period. Leptin levels appear to be very sensitive to sleep duration; reducing sleep duration by as little as 2 hours lowers the levels of this satiety (“fullness”) signal.

Snoring is also a serious cause of all the above. For an all natural cure without any devises or gizmo’s go to www.snore-solutions.com

MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW SHORTLY.

Ted Collins

My thanks to Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D. for all the information in this article.
Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.

Ted Collins is a Writer and Promoter of Health Products. www.snore-solutions.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sleep-articles/snoring-sleep-loss-your-health-part-2-1274901.html

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October 4th, 2009 | Category: Sleep Solutions | Comments Off
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