Too much, too little sleep ups diabetes

NEW YORK, June 8 (UPI) -- People who sleep less than five hours or more than nine hours per night are at greater risk for diabetes, U.S. researchers found.

Lead author Girardin Jean-Louis of the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center said the findings suggest both patients who have excessive or insufficient sleep time have increased risk for developing diabetes.

The prevalence of diabetes was 12 percent for blacks and 8 percent for whites, and the prevalence of obesity -- body mass index of 30 or more -- was 52 percent for blacks and 38 percent for whites.

The study involved data from 29,818 individuals who completed the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, using data collected from all 50 states. Participants were between the ages of 18-85 years; 85 percent of the sample was white and 15 percent was black; 56 percent were women.

"Both blacks and whites who were obese tended to have short sleep time. These findings suggest that race significantly influenced the risk of obesity conferred by short sleep duration," Jean-Louis said in a statement. "As obesity is associated with diabetes and sleep apnea, it may be that more blacks are at risk for sleep apnea and diabetes, which are both linked to cardiovascular disease."

The findings were presented at Sleep, the 23rd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Seattle.