An international research team has unveiled a significant connection between unhealthy sleep patterns and an elevated risk of Type 2 diabetes in a diverse adult population. This groundbreaking study, detailed in the journal Diabetologia, underscores the impact of both inadequate and excessive sleep on diabetes risk across various racial and economic groups.
The study, which focused on a large cohort primarily comprising low-income, middle-aged to older Black and white adults from the southeastern United States, builds on previous findings linking poor sleep to diabetes risk. Unlike earlier research, which often centered on predominantly white or homogenous populations, this study emphasizes the critical need for maintaining regular sleep patterns to mitigate the risk of adverse cardiometabolic conditions.
Kelsie Full, PhD, MPH, a behavioral epidemiologist and assistant professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, highlighted the study’s contribution to understanding sleep health in midlife. “Our research reinforces the significance of consistent sleep schedules in reducing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases,” Full noted.
The paper, co-authored by Full, VUMC’s Loren Lipworth, ScD, and first author Qian Xiao, PhD, MPH, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, along with Martin Rutter, MD, from the University of Manchester, defines suboptimal sleep duration as either less than seven hours or more than nine hours per night.
Previous research has shown that Black adults are more likely to experience chronic sleep disturbances and are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Additionally, low-income individuals are prone to poor sleep and a higher incidence of diabetes. The current study utilized data from approximately 36,000 participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study, a project tracking the health of a racially and economically diverse population across 12 southeastern states. The cohort was largely recruited through community health centers.
Unlike past studies that assessed sleep patterns at a single time point, this research involved a longitudinal approach, with sleep data collected through two separate surveys approximately five years apart. Approximately 62% of the participants were Black, providing a more comprehensive view of sleep health over time in an underrepresented demographic.
Qian Xiao, associate professor of epidemiology at the UT Health Science Center at Houston, emphasized the study’s unique approach: “Our focus on long-term sleep patterns rather than one-time measurements allowed us to highlight the importance of consistent sleep health for metabolic well-being.”
The study identified the strongest association with diabetes among participants who experienced significant fluctuations and variability in their sleep duration. Previous research links such variability to poor blood glucose control, obesity, and diabetes. The researchers suggest that irregular sleep patterns in disadvantaged populations may contribute significantly to racial and socioeconomic disparities in cardiometabolic health.
While excessive sleep itself may not directly cause diabetes, it can indicate the presence of other risk factors, such as diabetes-related fatigue. Consequently, long sleep duration remains a vital behavioral marker for diabetes risk and should be considered in risk prediction and disease screening.
The authors call for further research to explore the social and environmental factors, such as living in stressful, disadvantaged neighborhoods, that disrupt healthy sleep patterns and contribute to health disparities. They also advocate for intervention studies to determine if improving sleep health could help reduce health disparities in the U.S.
This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R21HL165369 and R01AG063946, as well as by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. The Southern Community Cohort Study receives funding from the National Cancer Institute of the NIH.
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