Sleep deprivation and diabetes (type 2)

My aunt Molly died of diabetes at the age of 53 ... but before she died, she was blinded, and one of her legs was amputated. The same thing happened with a neighbor who lived next to my parents. He also died of diabetes at the young age of 50 ... and he went blind, and one of his legs was amputated before his death! I do NOT want to cross the line and get diabetes! Diabetes is nothing to work with, and according to a study done, 10 million Americans with diabetes do not know it! I suffer from elevated blood sugar levels and sleep deprivation for about 3-4 years, and this causes a toxic mixture, and I am very nervous!

2008 marks my 4th year, when I had trouble sleeping, and I took medicine to sleep better. Along with this, my doctor told me recently that my blood sugar tests look like penguins ... or clones of each other ... they all look the same ... over the past few years. All raised, and everything goes against the line of diabetes, which I really care about! This is something called “pre-diabetes,” and the American Diabetes Association says that 65% of Americans who have advanced diabetes ... continue to get complete diabetes! I do not want to be one of those 65% who cross the line, etc.

From: One Health Lifestyle.com;
Getting a good night’s sleep is a breeze for some people, but there are still a lot of people suffering from sleep disorders. It is estimated that over 70 million Americans suffer from one of the four most common sleep disorders. What is a sleep disorder? These are conditions that violate the degree of interruption of a person’s life. They include insomnia; sleep apnea; restless legs syndrome; and narcolepsy.

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I quit smoking in 1970, and in 2001 I lost 40 pounds, and since 1986 I have been running 15 miles a week, which means that during this time there were more than 17,000 miles ... and they all require discipline; determination and sacrifice to be successful. And now I face another challenge that will take all these qualities ... my fight against diabetes!

In August 2007, I visited a nutritionist at the VA Medical Center to learn more about diet. For the next six months, I had to do a little house cleaning ... regarding my diet. I fill all the ice cream, candy and sweet things ... and sweets have been reduced by 90% in my life during this time. During this time I have never read so many product labels in my life. As I said earlier, diabetes is the number three killer in the United States, and I don’t want to be its victim!

Like my mother, I have a sweet tooth, so the victim will be a tough challenge for me to defeat diabetes. This small problem that I come across may be tougher than quitting smoking or losing weight, and so on. D. I always had ice cream and candy around the house ... but not more! After I saw the nutritionist, it was all in the window. Now I have to put my priorities in order.

But these are not just sweet things that make it harder to diet and deal with diabetes. These are carbohydrates in food that make it difficult! Carbohydrates transform food into sugar (glucose) for the energy of the body, and almost everything we eat has carbohydrates in itself, etc.

From: 60 minutes: (CBS / June, 2008)
When I saw a bit of sleep deprivation, I never waved to them that losing sleep could have anything to do with diabetes ... but I was wrong! Since I had trouble sleeping for so many years, I took notes during the program. The researcher who was interviewed said that Americans think all the time in terms of diet and exercise, etc. But what they have to think is diet, exercise and sleep, because sleep is a major player in our physical and mental well-being, etc.

After seeing this thing for 60 minutes, I lit up like a Christmas tree, and I could not get to the Internet fast enough to do some research on the correlation between sleep deprivation and diabetes. What I learned was awesome!

From Yahoo Health.com;
The most common factors believed to contribute to type 2 diabetes have always been too much food and too little exercise. However, sleep deprivation also appears to play a role in abnormal glucose metabolism, according to a study published in the SLEEP journal. Subjects who reported that they slept for five or fewer hours each night were significantly more likely to have diabetes during the subsequent period, compared with those who reported that they slept for seven hours. The results were confirmed even after the researchers adjusted variables such as physical activity; depression; alcohol consumption; ethnicity; education; marital status; age; and hypertension.

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Six months after visiting a nutritionist at VA Medical Center, I looked forward to returning the results of my blood tests in February 2008, because I did it well during the previous six months, with all the lifestyle changes that I implemented. But I was disappointed with the results of blood tests, and I was told that there were practically no changes.

During this six-month period (2008), I saw three doctors at the VA Medical Center who are familiar with my case ... and no doctor mentioned anything about sleep deprivation that could be a risk factor for diabetes ... even though I had problems with sleep and sleep, the treatment has been in my medical file for many years!

Since this moment, the best thing to do was to get a second opinion outside the VA system and what I did. I became eligible for Medicare, and I quickly joined the local health plan, but the blood tests showed the same thing, and again I was disappointed. The good news was that no medicine was prescribed, and I would continue the diet, but I was not a happy tourist.

Like many people who postpone from time to time, this is what I did with the sleep medicine that was prescribed to me in 2005. One of the nurses in the hospital told me that the sleep medication I was taking was ineffective. So, the first thing I did when I received my new doctor was to change the medicine. I have slept better since then, but in 2009 I still have trouble sleeping, but there have been improvements. What a joy to sleep from time to time!

Maybe ... just maybe ... sleep deprivation is one of my problems that can be corrected, thereby reducing the risk of developing diabetes, etc. Now that I saw a 60-minute piece and did independent research, I look waiting for results in blood tests conducted in February 2009.

From: McClactchy Newspapers: Howard Cohen article; No rest for careful!
Between 50 and 70 million Americans have some kind of sleep disorder ... be it apnea; insomnia; Egypt narcolepsy. Adults should strive every day to get 8 hours of sleep; children and teens should get 9 hours of sleep. Only 26% reported receiving the required 8 hours, compared with 35%. Result? More disease; weakened immune system; disturbed judgment ... not to mention shakiness; depression and other ailments, etc. Recent studies have associated with adequate sleep with obesity; heart disease; high blood pressure; and type 2 diabetes.

From: Science Daily.com; Inadequate drowsiness of diabetes, research suggests;
Lawrence Epstein (MD) Medical Director of Sleep Centers; Lecturer at Harvard Medical School; A former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and a member of the board of directors, said a study from one of several studies showed that people who do not get enough sleep have a high level of diabetes!

“Restricting sleep to four hours a day for just a few days, causing abnormal glucose metabolism, suggesting a mechanism to increase the frequency of diabetes in people who are deprived of sleep,” said Dr. Epstein. "In addition, sleep disorders that disrupt sleep, such as obstructive sleep apnea, also increase the likelihood of developing diabetes."

Treatment of sleep disorders improves glucose metabolism and control of diabetes. These studies highlight the fact that sleep is an integral part of good health.

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I read several articles in which stress and depression across the country are at an all-time high. And, I understand why ... with all the job losses; foreclosure homes; financial recession; uncertainty in society ... and all the anxiety that is associated with it, etc. I see why there are many sleepless nights for many Americans.

From: WebMD.com; Diabetes and sleep; What is a connection?
“Sleep is an important factor for your health, as well as diet and exercise,” says Kristen Knutson, a researcher from the Chicago School, Ph.D., who studied sleep and diabetes.

Over the past decade, there is growing evidence that sleep is not enough, it can affect hormones and metabolism in ways that promote diabetes, Knutson tells WebMD. She cites a study by Lancet colleges at the University of Chicago. Researchers monitored blood sugar levels of 11 healthy young people at the University of Chicago, who were only allowed four hours of sleep from 1:00 to 5:00 ... for six nights.

“The study showed that after just a short walk overnight, their glucose tolerance was impaired. There may have been dramatic effects even after a week, ”Knutson said. After six nights of weak sleep, men had a higher blood sugar level. (levels were not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes, however) The effects were gone as soon as they returned to their normal sleep schedule.

Experts also believe that chronic sleep deprivation can lead to elevated levels of the stress hormone ... cortisol. Elevated cortisol can, in turn, promote insulin resistance, in which the body cannot use hormone insulin to help move glucose into cells for energy. “It's on the road to developing diabetes,” says Knutson of WebMD. Further research shows that sleep loss reduces levels of the hormone leptin ... and appetite suppressants, while increasing ghrelin levels and appetite stimulants.

My dvuhcenta: (opinion / in nonprofessionals)
Most of us are not medical or technical people, and all we can do is our opinion about what it all means, and so on. D.

pancreas; (definition); iron located near the stomach, which releases the digestive fluid into the intestine through one or more ducts, and also creates the hormone insulin;

I interpret all this as meaning that due to the sleep deprivation of an individual ... the pancreas becomes dysfunctional (to a certain extent) and does not work properly. It does not provide enough insulin to balance the glucose that the body produces. Thus, in the body there is an excess (imbalance) of glucose, and it is here that the problem, etc.

And finally ... my health has always been my top priority in my life. How does someone have a quality of life when they are worried and hurt all the time? I hope blood tests in February 2009 will show some improvement that I slept better. I hope so!