Our sleep habits have changed a lot in the past 50 years and so has our development of diabetes.  On the norm, we get less sleep and the number of people with diabetes is on the rise.

Some new research has just come out that states if you get 6 hours of sleep or less a night consistently you put yourself at 4.5 times greater risk of developing diabetes.

When you don�t get the sleep you need your insulin levels are higher than normal at night.  This could be from higher night time cortisol, and that increases your risk of developing insulin resistance and therefore diabetes.  

I chat about sleep a lot with patients and I hear about sleep problems constantly.  It�s a big problem.  Our growing waistlines can partially be blamed for the increase of diabetes BUT sleep problems also contribute to the increase.

Even if you are getting enough hours of sleep, you may not be getting the quality of sleep you need.  Focus on your sleep...both the quantity and quality of sleep...and you will have better health all around.