Is diabetes disrupting your sleep? Why it's important

From unionleader.com

  

When NFL offensive lineman Ryan Jensen was waking up more than 13 times a night, he developed mood swings, fatigue and lost weight — jeopardizing his career. Once he was diagnosed and treated for sleep apnoea, he was back on track. But he’s not alone; it’s estimated that 33% to 50% of elite athletes are poor sleepers. That’s about the same number of folks with Type 2 diabetes who have sleep problems and that threaten to derail their life too.

Diabetes is associated with sleep issues because out-of-whack blood sugar levels can cause frequent urination (when they’re too high), anxiety, even nightmares (when they’re too low). Then poor sleep, especially less-restorative slow-wave sleep, interferes with insulin regulation and blood sugar levels — and it goes round and round.

A study in the Journal of Sleep Research lays out the consequences: Participants who had diabetes and also experienced frequent sleep disturbances were 87% more likely to die of any cause (car accident, heart attack, etc.) during the nine-year study follow-up than people who didn’t have diabetes and slept well, and were 12% more likely to die than those who had diabetes but no sleep issues.

If you have diabetes and sleep issues: Get your glucose levels under control 24/7. Consider using a continuous glucose monitor to keep track and ask your doctor for a referral to a diabetes educator. Talk to your doctor about the new diabetes-control medications that are available. And then ... get evaluated for sleep disturbances. You can turn this around!

https://www.unionleader.com/news/health/is-diabetes-disrupting-your-sleep-why-its-important/article_33ebf784-c1e1-5265-9e22-b8d196a429d9.html