Poor sleeping patterns may cause diabetes

People who have too little or too much sleep are putting themselves at a greater risk of blood sugar problems, which can lead to diabetes.

Too little and too much sleep creates hormonal changes that affect metabolism, appetite and also stops insulin from working.

This can lead to pre-diabetes, also known as impaired fasting glucose, when the body fails to produce enough insulin, causing blood sugar levels to rise in the morning,

Too little sleep…

A person having fewer than six hours of sleep a night during the working week is five times more likely to develop type two diabetes.

The average and recommend amount of sleep is seven hours a night, but one quarter of British adults regularly sleep fewer than five hours a night.

Research carried out at the University of Buffalo, New York, found that people who slept fewer than six hours a night between Sunday and Thursday over six years were 4.56 times more likely to developed diabetes.

Too much sleep…

A person who takes an afternoon nap, is a quarter more likely to develop type two diabetes.

The clear link between napping and diabetes is that you are less likely to be physically active, but the experts also found that napping disrupts night time sleep and the less sleep you have, the more chance you have of developing diabetes.

Walking up from a short sleep also activates hormones and mechanisms in the body, which stop insulin from working – insulin controls levels of blood sugar.

Diabetes can lead to strokes, blindness and kidney failure, and there has been a 69% increase in diabetes levels in Britain in the past 10 years.

There are 2.25m people in Britain with type two diabetes, which accounts for 90% of all diabetes cases, and it is predicted there are a further half a million who are unaware they have the disease.

Type two diabetes is linked to obesity, poor diet and an unhealthy lifestyle.

Type two diabetes is when the body is resistant to insulin – the hormone that enables sugar in the blood to enter the cells to be converted into energy. Too much sugar in the blood can damage the artery walls causing heart disease and strokes.

The only treatment and prevention for type two diabetes is to loose weight, eat healthy and do regular exercises – 30 minutes of physical activity every day is the recommended amount.

As a result of the growing cases of diabetes, we have increased our range of diabetic assessment tools and products ideal for treating diabetic related foot conditions.

Paladin Socks

The design of Paladin socks are designed in the following way:

• Provides impact protection, injury avoidance, anti-frictional, anti-static, anti-bacterial and anti-mycotic

• Resistance against compressive and shearing forces to the heel, ankle, metatarsal regions and dorsal toe regions

• Seamless, avoiding pressure from harsh ridging, skin irritation and abrasion

• A red target symbol identifies the superficial positioning of the dorsalis pedis artery

• Loop-pile cushioning designed to accommodate the metatarsalphalageal joints during the propulsive phase of gait

• Loop-pile cushioning reduces bulk inside footwear, enhancing air circulation and temperature regulation

• The sock will stretch to accommodate wider ankles and calves, and mild ankle oedema

• The double cuff, high-stretch top ensures minimal compression

View further information about Paladin Socks range.

Other products to help your patients:

• Hi-Dop BT-200 Vascular Doppler. The HI-Dop pocket vascular doppler is an effective non-directional hand held doppler for non-invasive vascular assessment

• Infrared Red Thermometer. This is a non-contact thermometer used for measuring skin surface temperature

• Foot Doc. Identifies foot type in 60 seconds, providing a permanent foot imprint used for sizing and fitting