Those who stay up later are more likely to develop diabetes than people who go to bed early, new research suggests.
Scientists say that being a late-night or early morning person can reveal your diabetes risk. It comes after new research shows night owls were less active than early birds, and found they were less sensitive to insulin hormone, both were predictors in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Researchers at Rutgers University in the United States split participations into two groups, early and late, and found that in those who stay up later fats can build up in the body. Early birds however were found to be more reliant on fat for energy, more active in the day, and more aerobically fit.
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Over a week the team monitored participants to figure out their daily activity patterns. To minimise diets impacting the results, calorie and nutrition-controlled diets and overnight fasting were required.
The group were tested at rest before completing rounds of exercise until they reached exhaustion. Scientists discovered early birds use more fat for energy - both when resting, and during exercise and were also more insulin sensitive.
Meanwhile night owls were insulin resistant, and their bodies required more insulin to decrease blood glucose levels. Night owls’ bodies also preferred carbohydrates as their energy source, rather than fats.
Writing in Experimental Physiology, the team said night owls’ impaired ability to respond to insulin and use more fuel can indicate a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Study senior author Professor Steven Malin, of Rutgers University, said: "The differences in fat metabolism between ‘early birds’ and ‘night owls’ shows that our body’s circadian rhythm (wake/sleep cycle) could affect how our bodies use insulin.
"A sensitive or impaired ability to respond to the insulin hormone has major implications for our health. This observation advances our understanding of how our body’s circadian rhythms impact our health. Because chronotype appears to impact our metabolism and hormone action, we suggest that chronotype could be used as a factor to predict an individual’s disease risk."
He added: "We also found that early birds are more physically active and have higher fitness levels than night owls who are more sedentary throughout the day. Further research is needed to examine the link between chronotype, exercise and metabolic adaptation to identify whether exercising earlier in the day has greater health benefits."
Diabetes
According to the NHS, There are 2 main types of diabetes, type 1 diabetes – where the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin and type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react to insulin.
Common signs
Visit your GP as soon as possible if you experience the main symptoms of diabetes, which include:
- feeling very thirsty
- peeing more frequently than usual, particularly at night
- feeling very tired
- weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
- itching around the penis or vagina, or frequent episodes of thrush
- cuts or wounds that heal slowly
- blurred vision
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days. Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general.
According to Diabetes UK, your risk of diabetes increases with age and ethnicity. You are also two to six times more likely to get type 2 diabetes if you have a parent, brother, sister or child with diabetes.
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