This study illustrates potential benefits of the personalized medicine approach to therapeutic intervention and challenges the one-size-fits-all approach, which often leaves at-risk populations without adequate protection from thrombotic events and stroke.
More Reasons Why Getting a Good Night’s Sleep Is Important
Not getting enough sleep not only makes our minds less alert, but our bodies, too. Studies have suggested that losing several hours of sleep can slow the body’s metabolism. A team of researchers from the University of South Carolina and Arizona State University found that metabolic effects are seen even when sleep is shortened by two hours.
In this study, 15 healthy nonobese young adult volunteers completed two oral glucose tolerance tests. One was after three days of sleep restricted by two hours each day, and the other was after three days of ad libitum sleep. Plasma samples were collected before and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after consumption of a glucose drink to determine glucose and insulin concentrations. Fasting C-peptide concentration was also determined.
The researchers observed that glucose concentrations before and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes following consumption of glucose were not different during the two glucose tolerance tests. Glucose area under the curve was also similar. Insulin concentrations before and 60, 90, and 120 minutes following consumption of glucose were not different, but insulin concentration 30 minutes following consumption of glucose was higher after restricted sleep (31.4 uIU/mL) than ad libitum sleep (23.7 uIU/mL). Insulin area under the curve and fasting C-peptide concentration were also greater following restricted sleep than ad libitum sleep. Sleeping two hours less thus increased insulin concentration, suggesting that cutting sleep even a little can alter metabolism.
“Our study was conducted in a group of young healthy adults after only three days of shortened sleep by two hours,” said Xuewen Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. “The study findings are important because this amount of shortened sleep is often seen in real life. Our next step is to find out whether the sleep pattern of shortened sleep during the week and catching-up sleep during the weekend affects glucose metabolism in the longer term. We are also interested in finding out the responses in individuals who already have impaired glucose metabolism.”