HOW TO HIT THE HAY: SLEEP & DIABETES

Sleep deprivation also known as insufficient sleep . Sleeplessness is a condition of not having enough sleep . It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity.

Sleep in humans is usually made up of a single block of 7-9 hours sleep at night , during which feeding is absent. This results in long overnight period of fasting. For this reason insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta cell activity in response to blood sugar levels vary with sleep, maintaining the steady blood glucose level during this fasting period.This is remarkable when compared with the 10-20 mg/dl drop in glucose levels that occurs with the same period of fasting while the person is awake , lying down and inactive.

GLUCOSE HOMEOSTASIS DURING SLEEP

The glucose homeostatic mechanisms that operate during sleep therefore include insulin production and sensitivity regulation, the amount of glucose uptake by tissues during sleep, and glucose tolerance in the sleep period.

For instance, when human beings are completely deprived of sleep they show increased feeding behavior or reduced glucose tolerance. 

This is accompanied by impairment of glucose metabolism over a few days. Leptin levels drop by almost a fifth, and since this is an anorexigenic hormone, feeding is promoted, with sympathetic activation. This has been seen enhanced by an almost 30 percent increase in ghrelin levels, this being a hormone that increases appetite. The desire to eat high-carbohydrate foods correspondingly has been shown to go up by a third. Again, insulin responsiveness was reduced in these subjects.

While the mechanism is debated, the disruption of glucose homeostasis may be caused by sympathetic-mediated inhibition of insulin release. This may be worsened by changes in the appetite-regulating hormones, which in turn elevate levels of growth hormone and cortisol levels in the night. Inflammation is also promoted by loss of sleep even for one night, which may increase the risk of insulin resistance.

HOMOEOPATHIC APPROACH 

RUBRICS

Sleep; sleeplessness; diabetes, in: abrom-aug , psor , uran-n