Pain, Insomnia, and Diabetes
By David Spero
Studies show that sleep problems contribute to Type 2 diabetes. But diabetes seems to increase pain sensitivity, and pain makes it harder to sleep. What a vicious cycle! What is the pain/sleep/diabetes connection, and what can we do about it?
I've written several times about diabetes and sleep, and also diabetes and pain. But this week I read an article that links all three problems. In the drug information journal MPR (Monthly Prescribing Reference), Debra Hughes, MS, discusses these issues with Victor Rosenfeld, MD, Medical Director of the Sleep Center at the SouthCoast Medical Group, Savannah, Georgia.
"Sleep and diabetes go hand-in-hand," writes Hughes. "Diabetes can cause sleep loss, and poor sleep can increase the risk for or worsen diabetes. Tired people eat more sugary foods for energy. Sleep deprivation has been linked with prediabetes."
Dr. Rosenfeld says the path from poor sleep to diabetes sometimes leads through weight gain. "Weight gain worsens sleep, which worsens weight and diabetic control, which worsens sleep — and so on."
In some cases, this vicious cycle involves obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A 2009 article in Diabetes Care reported that 86% of obese people with Type 2 diabetes had sleep apnea.
According to Dr. Rosenfeld, another study found that 97% of those who were both obese and had diabetes suffered from OSA. With or without obesity, OSA is associated with insulin resistance. This could be due to the stress hormones stimulated...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
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