Sleep disorder can lead to type 2 diabetes, and the reverse is equally possible

Sleep disorder is a common symptom and precursor to type 2 diabetes. How to handle this inability to sleep properly when you have diabetes is a challenge, especially when the other symptoms like frequent urination will rob your "shut-eye" experience anyway.

But now, my friend, you can go and take your rest. Sleep. I mean, sleep early - wake early. This is one of the important things I learned since developing type 2 diabetes - it matters

• when you sleep
• how long you sleep, and even
• where you sleep

Diabetes and sleep are closely connected

And all these facets of our sleep affect our ability to metabolize glucose - which is the type of impairment diabetes is, anyway.

There are several studies on sleep and diabetes that really got my attention and helped me change my sleep pattern. Some of these findings are quite recent but it is a long-known fact that sleep deprivation affects glucose metabolism and can lead to type 2 diabetes.

1. "Role of sleep duration and quality in the risk and severity of type 2 diabetes mellitus," published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, and
2. In Biological Research For Nursing, an article published in 2008 echoes the same warning: sleep affects diabetes and diabetes affects sleep.

This sounds like a double-edged sword. You have it either way. That's why your decision to handle type 2 diabetes needs to be an aggressive decision. Don't just settle for pills that simply mask the symptoms. Aim to lose your medication all together.

How this sleep disorder works

Our bodies rebuild tissues better at nights - it seems. Our bodies know the difference between night and day, and our metabolism depends on this circadian pattern to function properly. (Read about circadian rhythm in this WiKi article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm)

Researchers say that an hour of sleep before midnight may be twice as beneficial as an hour of sleep after midnight. Instead of challenging their findings, I thought it was reasonable so I did (and have been doing) that, i.e going to bed early - like by 10PM. It works for me.

"But I can't sleep that early!"

That may be so for other people, but I'll make myself do anything in order to NOT have diabetes or other lifestyle-related health problems. After nearly decades of going to bed long after midnight, it was difficult, but I've gotten used to it. Glad I broke the habit.

If you want to lose your diabetes medication and be symptom-free (like me), then seriously consider practicing these simple habits: have the best diet there is, start moving, and go to bed early! Look out for my other tips.

Speaking medically

The term used for sleep disorder associated with type 2 diabetes is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). While I cannot say I had OSA, it was certainly a sleep disorder.

There is nothing more "disorderly" than wanting to sleep and being awaken by severe thirst, which when satisfied by a glass of water, is destroyed very soon thereafter by the incontinent urge to urinate. Forgive my mangling of medical terminology, but that's how I experienced sleep disorder for months before the "culprit" was arrested by the anti-diabetes diet and lifestyle changes described on this site.

In plain language, the uncontrolled symptoms of diabetes do destroy our ability to sleep properly. With this sleep disorder (not having adequate amounts at the optimum times), our metabolic repair processes get out of tune, our system falls into disrepair and ageing is accellerated. We've got to find a way to safely remove those symptoms and restore our habits and our body functions to normal. If we don't, our lifespan is definitely shorter that it normally would have been.

Sleep well.

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