A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital reinforces the finding that too little sleep or sleep patterns that are inconsistent with our body's 'internal biological clock' may lead to increased risk of diabetes and obesity
A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) reinforces the finding that too little sleep or sleep patterns that are inconsistent with our body's "internal biological clock" may lead to increased risk of diabetes and obesity. This finding has been seen in short-term lab studies and when observing human subjects via epidemiological studies. However, unlike epidemiological studies, this new study provides support by examining humans in a controlled lab environment over a prolonged period, and altering the timing of sleep, mimicking shift work or recurrent jet lag.
The study will be electronically published on April 11, 2012 in Science Translational Medicine.
Researchers hosted 21 healthy participants in a completely controlled environment for nearly six weeks. The researchers controlled how many hours of sleep participants got, as well as when they slept, and other factors such as activities and diet. Participants started with getting optimal sleep (approximately 10 hours per night). This was followed by three weeks of 5.6 hours of sleep per 24-hour period and with sleep occurring at all times of day and night, thereby simulating the schedule of rotating shift workers. Thus, during this period, there were many days when participants were trying to sleep at unusual times within their internal circadian cycle-the body's "internal biological clock" that regulates sleep-wake and many other processes within our bodies. The study closed with the participants having nine nights of recovery sleep at the usual time.