10 - Sleep and diabesity in older adults

Summary

This chapter examines the existing evidence relating reduced sleep duration and quality, as occurs in a majority of older adults, and the epidemic of diabesity. Blood levels of glucose are tightly regulated within a narrow range to avoid hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia as both conditions have serious adverse consequences. The release of growth hormone (GH) during early sleep contributes to prevent the decline of glucose levels. There is increasing evidence that age-related alterations in sleep quality may result in disturbances of endocrine function, raising the hypothesis that some of the hormonal and metabolic hallmarks of aging partly reflect the deterioration of sleep quality. Glucose regulation was assessed by intravenous glucose tolerance test (ivGTT) at the end of each of the two conditions, after two consecutive nights of undisturbed baseline sleep, and after three nights of suppression of slow wave sleep (SWS).