Dick due to lack of sleep

Tired fat cells cause disturbed insulin processing

10/18/2012

According to a US study, sleep deprivation causes a disorder of fat cells that reduces their sensitivity to the energy hormone insulin. Obesity, diabetes and other diseases can be the result. The tired fat cells should also increase the feeling of hunger.

Tired fat cells could cause more hunger
US research team led by Matthew Brady of the University of Chicago has investigated why sleep deprivation poses an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and other health problems.

The scientists selected six women and one man for their examination, who were young, healthy and of normal weight. Subjects slept 8.5 hours each for four consecutive nights. A blood test gave information about the insulin processing in the body. The study participants were also taken from a small amount of abdominal fat. In the following four nights, the subjects slept only 4.5 hours. The food remained the same during the study period.

As the evaluation of the blood and tissue samples showed, the subjects reacted to the four-day sleep deprivation by 16 percent less on insulin. The fat cells were even 30 percent less sensitive to the energy hormone. According to researchers, the laboratory results are very similar to those of overweight and diabetics. Accordingly, there is a biochemical dependence of sleep deprivation and fat and sugar regulation in the body.

"Many consider fat cells as a problem, but in fact they are vital," says Matthew Brady. "When they are stored, they pull fat molecules out of the systemic circulation, where they could damage other tissues." If the fat cells did not adequately respond to insulin due to lack of sleep, it could cause disorders that led to conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Since fat cells also produce the hormone leptin, which causes a feeling of satiety and curbs appetite, the disturbed insulin processing could possibly also mess up this household and even cause more hunger, the researchers said.

Lack of sleep impairs metabolism
An association between sleep deprivation and increased risk of obesity, diabetes and other conditions has also been studied by Orfeu Buxton of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and his team. The scientists found that lack of sleep favors pancreatic under-functioning. Thus, people who work in shifts or often have to do intercontinental flights are more likely to develop type II diabetes. Lack of sleep and a shift in the day-night rhythm leads to a disruption of the internal clock, as the scientists report. The pancreas would therefore form less insulin, so that the sugar in the blood concentrate. An elevated blood sugar level could in turn cause diabetes. The researchers also found that the subjects' metabolism was slower at rest, increasing the risk of obesity.

Lack of sleep affects brain function
In another study, Marie-Pierre St-Onge from the Columbia University Medical Center and her team showed that people who do not sleep enough have more appetite for unhealthy eating. Due to the lack of sleep, it activates certain reward centers in the brain, which call for the reward effect after calorie bombs such as chocolate or hamburger. In addition, sleep deprivation causes an impairment of superior brain functions that make rational decisions. However, areas related to the instinct continue to function unrestricted, so that decisions with the mind, such as counteracting the craving for unhealthy eating, can only be limited. With sufficient sleep, the brain areas function normally, so that no oversized craving for chocolate, ice or fast food develops. (Ag)

Read about:
Therapies against overweight in children ineffective?
Stress hormones produce obesity
Lots of fat with diabetes and psycho-stress
If you sleep too fast cravings for fattening