A 12-year-long study has revealed that sleep hormones may affect diabetes risks in women. Melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, can more than double the risk of diabetes. If you have ever suffered from jet-lag, then you secrete melatonin into your system in order to get that awkward sleep-pattern back on the mend. Melatonin is a natural enzyme that is secreted in the brain in order to give you a proper night’s sleep.
The study found, however, that it may also affect insulin, the enzyme that regulates the body’s blood sugar.
The study involved 740 women, all of whom were analysed over a period of 12 years in order to see whether melatonin affected them. Because of the vast numbers that the doctors were working with, the variable amounts of melatonin would also be immense.
The conclusion was that over half of the women developed type-2 diabetes, of whom also produced the least melatonin.
Study leader Dr Ciaran McMullan, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, US, said: “This is the first time that an independent association has been established between nocturnal melatonin secretion and Type-2 diabetes risk.
“Hopefully this study will prompt future research to examine what influences a person’s melatonin secretion and what is melatonin’s role in altering a person’s glucose metabolism and risk of diabetes.”
Whether or not the same can be said for men, the experiment proves that it takes more than a sweet tooth for blood sugars to suffer.
So whether you are the moonlighter or the over-worker, make sure that you get enough sleep and raise that melatonin – it just might be the best move that you do.