Sleeping long hours one night but only a few hours the next can be detrimental to your health, with new research suggesting that inconsistent sleep patterns may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The findings “underscore the importance of consistent sleep patterns as a strategy to reduce type 2 diabetes,” according to Sina Kianersi, the lead author of the study and a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Channing Division of Network Medicine in Boston.
This new study analyzed sleep and health data from over 84,000 participants enrolled in the ongoing UK Biobank Study. The participants, who were on average 62 years old and did not have diabetes at the start of the study, provided a valuable dataset for the researchers.
For a period of seven consecutive nights, participants wore an accelerometer—a watch-like device that tracks movement during sleep.
The researchers then monitored whether these individuals developed type 2 diabetes over the next 7.5 years.
After accounting for various potential confounding factors, Kianersi’s team found a significant association between irregular sleep patterns and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
“Irregular” sleep was defined in the study as having a nightly sleep duration that varied by an average of 60 minutes or more.
Individuals with irregular sleep patterns were found to be 34% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those whose sleep duration remained more consistent.
The study could not definitively explain how fluctuating sleep duration might contribute to the onset of diabetes. However, the researchers theorized that “circadian disruption and sleep disturbances” could be contributing factors.
These findings were published on July 17 in the journal Diabetes Care.