- Women’s insulin production increased the more sleep they enjoyed
- Opposite was true for men – linking extra sleep to increased diabetes risk
- Dutch led study looked at sleeping habits of 800 healthy men and women
- Scientists say discovery could be key in reducing soaring diabetes rates
Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
2
View
comments
It is the perfect excuse for women to enjoy a lie in, while the men in their lives make them breakfast in bed.
Research shows that extra sleep may cut females’ risk of diabetes.
However, the opposite is true for males, with men who stayed snuggled under the duvet thought to be at higher odds of developing the condition.
The discovery is important because diabetes rates are soaring as waistlines expand.
The condition leads to disabling and life-threatening complications from stroke and heart attacks, to blindness, kidney disease and circulatory problems that lead to limbs being amputated.
Women who enjoy a lie-in and get extra sleep could reduce their chances of diabetes while the opposite was true for men who experienced broken sleep, Dutch researchers found
Learning more about what fuels diabetes could have huge health and economic benefits.
A Dutch-led team of researchers studied almost 800 healthy middle-aged men and women.
The volunteers wore a device that tracked their sleep and underwent tests to show how well their body was able to use insulin, the sugar-processing hormone at the root of diabetes.
In type 2 diabetes, the body does not make enough insulin – or struggles to use the insulin that is made.
-
Women who go to church ‘are 5 times less likely to commit…
Feeling tired? Don’t worry, you’ll be fine by Wednesday:…
New mothers to be given Finnish-style baby boxes for the…
Why asking your GP for antibiotics is IMMORAL, doctor…
-
Don’t give up your statins: Experts say warnings that made…
The volunteers slept for an average of seven hours and 18 minutes.
When the women slept longer than this, their bodies were better at using insulin.
And the longer they slept, the more responsive they were to the hormone, suggesting their risk of diabetes was reduced.
Interestingly, lack of sleep was also linked to better use of insulin in women.
However, the results were very different for the men studied.
There, sleeping more than average cut their ability to use insulin, meaning they may be at greater risk of diabetes.
Men are known to get less deep, restorative sleep than women and the new study showed sleeping more than average reduced their ability to use insulin and made them more at risk of diabetes
Short sleep was also detrimental to males, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism reports.
Researcher Dr Femke Rutters, of the VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said: ‘In a group of nearly 800 healthy people, we observed sex-specific relationships between sleep duration and glucose metabolism.
‘In men, sleeping too much or too little was related to less responsiveness of the cells in the body to insulin, reducing glucose uptake and thus increasing the risk of developing diabetes in the future.
‘In women, no such association was observed.
‘This research shows how important sleep is to a key aspect of health.’
Men are known to get less deep, restorative sleep than women, and so their health may suffer more from sleep deprivation.
It is less clear why extra sleep is bad for men but good for women.
However, it is possible that men who regularly oversleep are already ill in some way.
Previous research has shown that while women spend longer in bed than men, they get less sleep.
The Cambridge University researchers said that the problems of juggling work and family life may leave females tossing and turning.
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism.
Share or comment on this article
-
Video appears to show gunman being shot then bomb detonated
-
CCTV appears to show moment bomb goes off at Istanbul…
-
See the wall Mark Zuckerberg is building at his Hawaii…
-
Shocking video of mistress beaten in street by angry wife
-
People cower on floor at Istanbul airport after bomb blasts
-
New ISIS video shows footage of San Fran’s Golden Gate…
-
People run through Ataturk airport moments before explosion
-
Dramatic motorcycle accident on highway when load detaches
-
Kitten climbs out of display and into puppy’s pen in pet…
-
Man weilding gun shot by White House Secret Service in May
-
Super cute video shows dog calming a crying baby by howling
-
Boyfriend documents girlfriend’s drunk exploits on Snapchat
-
‘There was blood and body parts everywhere’: Terrifying…
-
PIERS MORGAN: How can Kim Kardashian call herself a feminist…
-
Married TV reporters in Arizona arrested and charged after…
-
Now we feast! Michelle Obama and the girls are joined by…
-
EXCLUSIVE: Just five weeks until the Olympics and this is…
-
Mark Zuckerberg causes outrage after he starts building a…
-
Chilling moment ISIS suicide bomber casually walks into…
-
This amazing ocean view is brought to you by Mark…
-
They’re TIED: Trump vs. Clinton is suddenly too close to…
-
Can you spot the ghost in this photo from 1900? Spooky…
-
Johnny Manziel sends screw you message to his father as he…
-
Incredible moment that hero policeman guns down Istanbul…
Comments (2)
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Find out now