How Diabetes Affect Sleeping Habits?

There are certain reasons why people with diabetes has a poor sleeping habits, which includes difficulty on falling asleep or staying asleep. Some people with diabetes get more than enough sleep while others has poor sleeping habits. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 63% of American adults do not get enough sleep needed for good health, safety, and optimum performance.

Sleep Problems and Type 2 Diabetes

Sleep Apnea is one of the main reason for not having a good sleeping habits for individuals with diabetes. When a person find it difficult to sleep or having a hard time to complete his/her sleeping routine, he/she might have some problems called Sleep Apnea. Sleep apnea involves pauses in breathing during sleep. The periods of stopped breathing are called apneas, which are caused by an obstruction of the upper airway. Apneas may be interrupted by a brief arousal that does not awaken you completely -- you often do not even realize that your sleep was disturbed. Yet if your sleep was measured in a sleep laboratory, technicians would record changes in the brain waves that are characteristic of awakening.

Sleep apnea results in low oxygen levels in the blood because the blockages prevent air from getting to the lungs. The low oxygen levels also affect brain and heart function. Up to two-thirds of the people who have sleep apnea are overweight.

Sleep apnea alters our sleep cycle and stages of sleep. Some studies have linked altered sleep stages with a decrease in growth hormone, which plays a key role in body composition such as body fat, muscle, and abdominal fat. Researchers have found a possible link between sleep apnea and the development of diabetes and insulin resistance (the inability of the body to use insulin).

How Sleep Affects Blood Glucose and Diabetes?

Are you irritable or depressed? Have you fallen asleep at the wheel? Do you have high blood pressure? You may have sleep apnea, which can make diabetes more difficult to control. Find out how to treat this common problem and help regulate your blood glucose. The solution is to first treat apnea of pause of breathing during sleep to maintain the problem of having diabetes. Sleep apnea can affect diabetes control in many ways. Struggling for air may put your body into fight-or-flight mode, releasing stress hormones that can raise blood glucose levels. If you're tired, you won't want to take that walk around the block after lunch. While you're at work, you might keep snacking to stay awake.

What are some alternative?

Treating sleep apnea can be done through the help of a cpap machines. These devices where designed to supplies a constant and steady air pressure, a hose, and a mask or nose piece. Choosing the right mask will be of great help to avoid leak of air. With CPAP machines you can enjoy a good night sleep and wake up with a smile early in the morning without stressing your self and you may have control over the danger of glucose increase that may lead to diabetes.

Why Can Sleep Apnea Cause Diabetes?

Sleep apnea is now recognized as a major risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes. In fact, if you have sleep apnea, you are more than twice as likely to develop diabetes as those who do not suffer from sleep apnea. This holds true even if you are not overweight.


When sleep and oxygen are interrupted as they are during periods of sleep apnea, this stimulates a stress response from your body. When your body responds to stress, it releases a hormone called cortisol. Over time, this repeated stress response and release of cortisol can increase the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, as well as decrease insulin sensitivity (how well the body responds to insulin). This leads to insulin resistance and increased blood sugar levels.

A lack of oxygen also causes the release of a type of protein that is associated with insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. The more severe the sleep apnea, the more resistant to insulin your body becomes, which increases blood glucose.

Sleep apnea and obesity both trigger an inflammatory response in your body. With sleep apnea, your upper airways may become inflamed, as can the lining of the blood vessels (systemic inflammation). Obesity also causes systemic inflammation, as well as dyslipidemia (high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides), both of which may lead to heart disease.

In addition, sleep apnea is linked to metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, increased abdominal fat and increased fasting blood sugar levels. Metabolic syndrome doubles the risk of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries due to the buildup of plaque caused by cholesterol) and increases the risk of diabetes by five times.

Treating Sleep Apnea
One of the most common treatments for sleep apnea is CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. CPAP is a device that creates air pressure in the throat and keeps the airways open while a person sleeps. The CPAP machine delivers air flow through a mask placed over your nose and/or mouth while you sleep.

Studies have shown CPAP to be an extremely effective method for treating both sleep apnea and diabetes. After several months of CPAP therapy, the insulin sensitivity of study participants with Type 2 diabetes significantly increased, which led to lower blood sugar levels and lower HbA1c levels.

In addition, those who regularly use a CPAP machine also experience improved quality of sleep, less fatigue and irritability, more energy, improved concentration and fewer episodes of depression.

If you have sleep apnea, it is extremely important to seek treatment, not only to prevent or help treat diabetes, but also to decrease your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke.