Consistent sleep reduces risk of diabetes, new Brigham and Women's study shows

BOSTON -- And here’s yet another reason to get a good night’s sleep -- every night.

In a just-released study, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found a link between inconsistent hours of sleep and the development of Type 2 diabetes.

More than 84,000 participated in the study. Researchers first monitored the number of hours of sleep each one got, each night, over seven days. To accomplish this, the study subjects wore accelerometers -- devices which detect activity.

Then, researchers monitored the medical records of the participants for about seven years. They found those with irregular sleep patterns -- say, five hours one night, seven another -- had a 34 percent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than those who pretty much slept the same number of hours each night..

That risk lessened if the irregular sleepers led a healthy lifestyle and/or had no genetic predisposition to diabetes. But, crucially, it did not disappear.

Diabetes affects about 1/10 of the U.S. population, according to the CDC -- and at least 90 percent of diabetics have Type 2 disease. Formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, Type 2 can actually develop at any age -- and is increasingly diagnosed in children and teens. Diabetes can lead to serious complications including loss of limbs and blindness.

The American Diabetes Association estimated that in 2022, diabetes cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $400 billion.

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