Melatonin is a hormone produced by the brain during sleep and released into the bloodstream. It peaks three to five hours after people go to sleep and helps regulate their sleep-wake cycles. The nightly release of melatonin into the blood keeps bodily rhythms synchronized. Some research suggests that it affects glucose metabolism.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston studied the relationship between melatonin and Type 2 diabetes by examining the blood and urine samples of 370 women who developed Type 2 diabetes between 2000 and 2012 and matched them with 370 women of the same race and age who did not have diabetes. The 740 women were all participants of the Nurses' Health Study. They filled out questionnaires about their physical activity levels, diets, sleep habits, smoking habits, and family history.
The findings, published in Journal of the American Medical Association, found that women with low levels of melatonin at night were twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as those with high levels. That rang true even after researchers factored in all other risk factors, including diet, smoking, family history, and being overweight/obese.
"It's possible that melatonin impacts the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin, and the body's sensitivity to insulin, which could lead to Type 2 diabetes," says lead author Ciaran McMullan, a research fellow at Brigham and Women's.
Studies using rats have shown that feeding them melatonin helps protect against the onset of Type 2 diabetes, but that doesn't mean it will work the same for humans. "We don't know yet that raising someone's melatonin levels would lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. We cannot make any treatment recommendations on taking melatonin supplements based on this study. This is an observational study, and randomized trials are needed to confirm our findings," McMullan says.
Sleep researcher Eve Van Cauter, director of the Sleep, Metabolism, and Health Center at the University of Chicago agrees with the findings. "Insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, including sleep apnea, and irregular sleep-wake cycles such as those that occur in shift work have all been linked to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes. Good regular sleep habits and avoiding light exposure in the wee hours will help produce melatonin and may reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes," Van Cauter says.
Reference: USA Today
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