Sleepy teens might have greater risk of diabetes
A CHEO scientist has published new research that links Type 2 diabetes in children and teens to poor and irregular sleep patterns.
In a study published in Nutrition & Diabetes, an online journal, CHEO research scientist Jean-Philippe Chaput analyzed the findings of 23 previous studies that examined the association between sleep and diabetes markers, such as insulin resistance and blood sugar levels.
Chaput found that, taken together, the research suggests sleep problems are contributing to the fast-rising rates of diabetes among youth.
“A lack of sufficient sleep — both in duration and quality — seems to be associated with a higher risk of insulin resistance, or a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in teenagers,” Chaput said in an interview.
Studies in adults have found that people who sleep seven to eight hours a night have the lowest risk for diabetes, and that insufficient sleep is a major risk factor, on par with physical inactivity and family history.
Relatively little research, however, has been done to assess the role that sleep — and the lack of it — plays in the development of diabetes among young people.
Type 2 diabetes was once known as adult-onset diabetes because it was so rarely diagnosed among children and adolescents, but that is no longer the case in Canada and the U.S.
A recently published study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Type 2 diabetes rates in the U.S. increased by 7.1 per cent annually between 2002 and 2012.
Chaput said a lack of sleep stresses the body and affects hormone levels. Researchers have found that short sleepers often see a spike in their levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. That, in turn, tends to increase their insulin resistance, a condition that leads to elevated blood sugar levels.
A short sleep can also release the hormones that trigger feelings of hunger, Chaput said, while providing more time and opportunity for people to raid the fridge.
“We know that short sleepers snack more and eat more meals per day than long sleepers,” he said.
Chaput intends to test whether doctors can improve the health of pre-diabetic teenagers (those with elevated blood sugar levels) by adjusting their sleep patterns. He’s now recruiting teenaged patients at high risk for Type 2 diabetes for a randomized controlled trial to be launched in September. In the trial, 25 teenagers will be divided into two groups: one with an early bedtime, and another with a normal one.
The goal of the trial will be to test the impact that 90 minutes of extra sleep has on a teenager’s health: blood sugar levels, body weight, activity levels and other variables. The teens will wear wrist monitors that track their sleep, and psychologists will work with parents and the patients to improve bedtime habits to encourage better sleep.
“Studies tend to show that a good night’s sleep is as important as eating well and exercising for overall health,” said Chaput, a member of CHEO’s Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group. “But sleep is rarely something we talk about, especially when it comes to teenage health.”
Studies tend to show that a good night’s sleep is as important as eating well and exercising for overall health.