Health
advocates tend to push nutrition and exercise as the vital components in maintaining
a healthy lifestyle, but sleep is often overlooked. As chronic diseases take a more prevalent role in premature deaths in the United States, sleep
researchers are increasingly prioritizing sleep as a preventative tool.
Why
is sleep so important? Well among many other reasons, researchers have found
that insufficient sleep is linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes
(Knutson, Ryden, Mander, & Van, 2006). Research has also shown that lack of
sleep can adversely affect the function of the hypothalamus leading to increased
appetite and obesity (Taheri 2006).
The
link between lack of sleep and chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular
disease is clear. However, what is notably unclear, is why major chronic
diseases are significantly higher in minority groups than in white
Americans. For example, African Americans lag behind white Americans in almost every
category of health, and they are also more likely to die from heart disease and
stroke (Sherman 2015). African Americans
are also three times more likely to have higher blood pressure than white Americans
earlier in their lives and with greater severity (Sherman 2015).
There
are many different theories as to why the black-white health gap exists, but it
is hard to determine the exact cause. One of the theories that the radio series Freaknomics
explores is how sleep could be contributing to the health differences seen in
black and white Americans. The podcast hypothesizes that black Americans could
be getting less sleep than their white counterparts and that this lack of sleep
is contributing to the higher rates of diabetes and heart disease. Researchers compiled
data from self-report surveys and the statistical analysis showed that black
Americans (who on average had less education, lower incomes, and less job
security) slept more poorly than white Americans (Dubner & Werth 2015). During
sleep, blood pressure becomes lower to give the cardiovascular system a chance to
rest and recover. African Americans have less access to these physiological
benefits of sleep. This data provides a persuasive argument that sleep might be
the missing link in understanding the health gap in chronic diseases between
races. As such, while there are big pushes for eating healthier, exercising
more, drinking less and driving safer, maybe it’s time to have a greater push
for sleeping better.
Work
Citied
Dubner,
S. J., & Werth, C. (2015, July 6). The Economics of Sleep, Part 1 (Ep.
211). Retrieved from
http://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-economics-of-sleep-part-1-a-new-freakonomics-radio-episode/.
Knutson
KL, Ryden AM, Mander VA, Van Cauter E. Role of sleep duration and quality in
the risk and severity of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Arch Intern Med
2006;166:1768–1764.
Sherman,
J. (Professor of epidemiology). (2015, July 6). Freakonomics [ Audio
podcast]. Retrieved from http://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-economics-of-sleep-part-1-a-new-freakonomics-radio-episode/.
Taheri
S. The link between short sleep duration and obesity: We should recommend more
sleep to prevent obesity. Arch Dis Child 2006;91:881–884.
Feruth,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic because research has shown how sleep deprivation can have drastic effects on peoples cognitive and physical abilities, but I have also never considered the social and economic effects of this and how sleep deprivation may lead to poor academic performance which can be linked to some of the issue’s minorities face later on in life. Many people of color do not continue their education, rather turn to working low skilled labor jobs which in turn may contribute to continued sleep deprivation as adults, though the problem may have started at a much younger age. There are many reasons why children and teens of color are more sleep deprived, for example, it is common for many children and teens of color to have to help their parents by working after school in order to help support their family or they may live in a home where sleep schedules are not enforced, which may be affecting their performance and in turn affecting their future. There has been a recent push for teachers and parents to prioritize sleep in growing children and this can be seen with advocating for a delayed start time. In the future I hope to see more studies that analyze the relationship between sleep deprivation and social economic status.
Alhola, P., & Polo-Kantola, P. (2007). Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 3(5), 553–567.
Patrick, Y., Lee, A., Raha, O., Pillai, K., Gupta, S., Sethi, S., … Moss, J. (2017). Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive and physical performance in university students. Sleep and biological rhythms, 15(3), 217–225. doi:10.1007/s41105-017-0099-5
Medic, G., Wille, M., & Hemels, M. E. (2017). Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. Nature and science of sleep, 9, 151–161. doi:10.2147/NSS.S134864
Kingsbury, J. H., Buxton, O. M., & Emmons, K. M. (2013). Sleep and its Relationship to Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease. Current cardiovascular risk reports, 7(5), 10.1007/s12170-013-0330-0. doi:10.1007/s12170-013-0330-0
Feruth, your post also caused me to ponder the effects of sleep deprivation during childhood and adolescents on the potential development of Type 2 Diabetes later in life. I did struggle to find research studies that linked sleep deprivation in childhood and adolescents with an increase in Type 2 Diabetes later in life; however, I was able to find some evidence linking sleep deprivation to decreased insulin sensitivity. Klingenberg et al. (2013) found that healthy, normal weight (BMI of >30) adolescent boys ranging from age 15 to 19 had a reduction in insulin sensitivity after 3 consecutive nights of short sleep durations (4 hours per night). Interesting, this was the only evidence of endocrine stress the researchers found suggesting that short-term sleep deprivation may not negatively impact other endocrine systems in adolescents. Javaheri et al. (2011) also found that a shorter sleep duration of 5 hours resulted in a decrease in insulin sensitivity and was associated with obesity in adolescents. Furthermore, they found that a longer duration of sleep (10.5 hours) also led to a decrease in insulin sensitivity, but it this was not correlated with obesity in adolescents (Javaheri et al., 2011). It is reasonable to make the conclusion that this decrease in insulin sensitivity with short sleep durations may lead to insulin resistance and the development of Type 2 Diabetes later in life. These studies suggest that sleep duration plays an integral role in glucose metabolism during adolescents. The importance of sleep in adolescents should be reinforced by physicians, teachers, coaches, and parents.
ReplyDeleteJavaheri, S., Storfer-Isser, A., Rosen, C. L., & Redline, S. (2011). Association of short and long sleep durations with insulin sensitivity in adolescents. The Journal of pediatrics, 158(4), 617-623. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2010.09.080
Klingenberg, L., Chaput, J. P., Holmbäck, U., Visby, T., Jennum, P., Nikolic, M., Astrup. A., & Sjödin, A. (2013). Acute sleep restriction reduces insulin sensitivity in adolescent boys. Sleep, 36(7), 1085-1090. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2816