The researcher said that being a modifiable lifestyle factor, sleep could be used in high blood sugar and Type 2 diabetes treatment
Another study says exercise has a positive effect on blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes.
An increased responsiveness of the human body to insulin during deep sleep, in turn, improving blood sugar control the next day, may be why lack of quality sleep is considered to increase risk of diabetes, researchers say.
A stronger and a more frequent linking of the deep sleep brain waves, particularly the sleep spindles and the slow waves, triggered the body’s parasympathetic nervous system into action, the researchers from the University of California (UC) Berkeley, US, found after examining sleep data of 600 individuals.
The parasympathetic branch of the nervous system is associated with soothing and calming the body by producing physiological effects such as slowing down the heart and dilating blood vessels.
The researchers detected this shift in the participants by measuring changes in their heart rate.
Further, they found that switching to this tranquil and calm mode enhanced the body’s responsiveness to insulin, the blood sugar-regulating hormone, which instructs cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream and thus, preventing a deleterious blood sugar spike.
Their findings are published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.
“These synchronized brain waves act like a finger that flicks the first domino to start an associated chain reaction from the brain, down to the heart, and then out to alter the body’s regulation of blood sugar,” said Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology, UC Berkeley, and senior author of the study.
The coupling of sleep spindles and slow waves of deep sleep have been known to enhance learning and memory.
However, this study in humans, building on a 2021 rodent study, revealed a novel and previously unrecognized function of these waves with regards to the critical bodily function of managing blood sugar.
“This particular coupling of deep-sleep brain waves was more predictive of glucose than an individual’s sleep duration or sleep efficiency,” said Raphael Vallat, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and co-author of the study.
“That indicates there is something uniquely special about the electrophysiological quality and coordinated ballet of these brain oscillations during deep sleep,” said Vallat.
The researchers subsequently replicated the same effects by examining a separate group of 1,900 participants.
They said that being a modifiable lifestyle factor, sleep could be used in high blood sugar and Type 2 diabetes treatment.
Further, their study uncovers the prospect of new technologies capable of safely altering deep sleep brain waves to help people better manage their blood sugar, they said.
According to another study, exercise has a positive effect on blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. The findings were published in the journal ‘American Journal of Medicine Open’.
The study provides a thorough but concise overview of the benefits of exercise in controlling blood glucose levels in people with Type 2 diabetes.
“The challenge with this is that most, if not all, people know exercise is good for them but they don’t know the best approach,” said Steven Malin, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and an author of the study.
“We targeted this issue by focusing on a few key parameters: the utility of aerobics versus weightlifting, the time of day that is optimal for exercise, whether to exercise before or after meals and whether we have to lose weight to get benefits or not.”
As part of the analysis, researchers sifted through dozens of studies and extracted common conclusions. Some of the key findings include:- Habitual aerobic exercise: Physical activity, such as cycling, swimming and walking, that increases the heart rate and the body’s use of oxygen helps manage blood glucose. – Resistance exercise: Working muscles using an opposing force such as dumbbells, resistance bands or a person’s own body weight benefits insulin sensitivity in those with Type 2 diabetes.
Movement throughout the day by breaking up sitting time benefits blood glucose control and insulin levels.- Performing exercise later in the day can result in better control of blood sugar levels as well as improve insulin sensitivity.”In short, any movement is good and more is generally better,” Malin said.
“The combination of aerobic exercise and weightlifting is likely better than either alone. Exercise in the afternoon might work better than exercise in the morning for glucose control, and exercise after a meal may help slightly more than before a meal. And, you don’t have to lose weight to see the benefits of exercise. That is because exercise can lower body fat and increase muscle mass.” More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and between 90 and 95 per cent have Type 2 diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People with Type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant, meaning that their cells don’t respond normally to insulin, a hormone that controls the level of sugar, or glucose, in the blood. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and can cause serious health issues.