Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Sleep Deprivation Could Increase Risk of Diabetes

Aired June 26, 2001 - 11:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Your risk to developing diabetes could be connected to how much you -- how much sleep you get. The findings are leading to concern in our workaholic society, where a full night's rest is often hard to come by.

CNN medical correspondent Rea Blakey explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This college student is sleep deprived. She sleep walks and according to her roommates, she also eats during her sleep.

PHYLLIS CONSTANT, GEORGETOWN SLEEP DISORDERS: She gets up and doesn't realize she's doing it. She goes in, gets food out of the refrigerator, and she eats it.

BLAKEY: Sleep eating is unusual, but in our increasingly non- stop society, sleep deprivation isn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm always busy, being as I have two jobs.

BLAKEY: Research from the University of Chicago indicates chronic short sleepers may be at greater risk of developing diabetes. Sixteen million Americans have diabetes. Another 20 to 30 million have impaired glucose tolerance, a condition that could result in diabetes. It's a condition caused by poor insulin sensitivity -- sensitivity that could be eroded by lack of sleep.

DR. RICHARD WALDHORN, SLEEP EXPERT: Disruptions in sleep can have profound effects on a number of endocrine problems and insulin resistance could be a pre-diabetic situation that could affect many, many people who are sleep deprived in our society.

BLAKEY: Sleep researchers studied 27 healthy non-obese adults ages 23 to 42. Fourteen were normal sleepers, averaging just under eight hours of sleep during the eight-night study. Thirteen were chronic short sleepers, getting less than five and a half-hours of sleep.

On the final day of the study, both groups underwent an intravenous glucose tolerance test. The results: insulin sensitivity was almost 40 percent lower among short sleepers. (on camera): Researchers at the University of Chicago have already linked failing insulin sensitivity with something called metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome represents a whole host of health problems including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

WALDHORN: We know that certain patients with sleep disorders are obese and they have a difficult time losing weight, another sign of abnormalities in insulin, metabolism.

BLAKEY (voice-over): Sleep experts predict our prevalent, more work, less sleep mentality will continue to help fuel the diabetes epidemic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLAKEY: While University of Chicago researchers believe they have proven inadequate sleep may trigger a chain reaction that could lead to diabetes, they readily admit more research is needed. Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of disease death in the U.S., and sleep deprivation is a major public health concern. Kyra, obviously, when you combine the two, there could be a huge issue waiting for the rest of us.

PHILLIPS: Talk about that combination. What is it about sleep that affects diabetes?

BLAKEY: Well, one of the functions of sleep, and that's just beyond getting physical rest, is to help assure the normal metabolism of the sugars in your body, and as the study shows, not enough sleep, the body simply loses its ability to recognize its own insulin and things tend to go wrong from there.

PHILLIPS: Rea Blakey, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com