Older people who take a habit of napping during the day have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a Sino-British study found. Information on this is provided by the journal Sleep.
It is well known that untreated or poorly treated diabetes (ie, a disorder in glucose metabolism) may be associated with excessive sleepiness. Recent studies show, however, that people who habitually nap during the day, not because of greater sleepiness, are also exposed to it.
On this basis, the authors speculate that naps in themselves may contribute to disturbances in glucose metabolism. However, this theory requires verification in further research – they emphasize.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham, the University of Hong Kong, and Guangzhou Public Hospital 12, analyzed data from 19 Chinese aged 567 to 50 who are participating in an ongoing study of chronic disease. More than two-thirds of the group are women.
The participants of the experiment provided information on lifestyle and current and past diseases. Diabetes prevalence was assessed on the basis of fasting blood glucose levels, or on the basis of the patient’s information that he was diagnosed with or treated for the disease. It was about type 2 diabetes, which is the one that occurs mostly in middle-aged or old age and is associated with obesity and lack of exercise. Data on daytime sleepiness and the habit of napping were collected through questionnaires.
67 percent of the study participants took a nap at least once a week, more often they were men (over 76%). Almost 60% of people were napping every day. subjects. Nap enthusiasts slept more hours a day in total and experienced less sleepiness during the day than those who did not have the habit of napping.
The analysis showed that they were also much more likely to have abnormal fasting glucose levels. After taking into account demographics (age and gender), lifestyle items, night-time habits, health status, body weight and fatness, and metabolic rates, the researchers calculated that type 2 diabetes was 36 percent. more often among people who took naps 4-6 times a week and 28 percent. more often in people who take daily naps, compared to those who did not have the habit of sleeping during the day.
Interestingly, nap lovers were more physically active than other respondents, which is believed to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
As emphasized by the authors of the study, the relationship between habitual napping and diabetes continued even after excluding people with poor health and experiencing high daytime sleepiness from the analysis. This raises the suspicion that napping may not be a symptom of diabetes, but it may increase your risk of developing it. The explanation of this dependence, however, requires further extensive research, noted the lead author of the study, Dr. Neil Thomas.
His team also observed that the risk of diabetes increased in direct proportion to the length of naps – subjects taking more than 30 minutes of naps during the day were 41 percent. more likely to develop diabetes than those without the habit, while naps of 30 minutes or less increased the risk of the disease by an average of 35%.
Scientists estimate that the latest research could be of great importance to many societies where taking daytime naps is the norm. This applies, inter alia, to China, a country that is currently experiencing an epidemic of type diabetes and where daytime naps are a habit since childhood. (PAP)