Chicago: Diabetes risk increases with lack of sleep, according a new study.

US researchers said that deep, restful sleep is good for keeping Type 2 diabetes at bay.    

In study findings, the researchers observed that slim, healthy young adults who do not experience the deepest stage of sleep known as slow-wave sleep developed insulin resistance- linked to Type 2 diabetes just after three nights.

Eve Van Cauter, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said, “It demonstrates the importance of deep sleep not only for the brain, but for the rest of the body.”

“It turns out deep sleep also has implications for glucose metabolism and diabetes risk,” added Van Cauter, whose study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers studied 9 adults between the ages of 20 and 31, who spent two consecutive nights in a sleep lab where they slept undisturbed for 8.5 hours each night.

After this, for other three nights, the researchers disrupted their sleep with noise just as brain wave activity indicated they were drifting off into deep sleep. The sounds were loud enough to disturb deep sleep, but didn’t wake the study participants.

Finally, researchers injected a sugar or glucose solution into each subject and measured their blood sugar and response to insulin.

The results showed eight of nine volunteers have less sensitive to insulin without raising the production of insulin.

The deficiency of insulin causes weight gain and diabetes.

Obesity and age are responsible for reduced sleep. Most young adults spend 80 to 100 minutes per night in slow-wave sleep, while adults over 60 years spend just 20 minutes in deep sleep.

Van Cauter said, “Any condition that involves a decrease in deep sleep is linked to an increase in diabetes risk. That is the case for aging and sleep apnea. This study really demonstrates a causal link.”

Type 2 diabetes is linked with excess body weight, a rich diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Poor sleep quality has been associated with changes in appetite and metabolism.