Impact of Sleep and Its Disturbances on Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activity

[Beyond]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2902103/

A recent experiment of sleep fragmentation led to different findings [93]. Following 2 nights of experimental sleep fragmentation across all stages, an increase in morning cortisol levels was observed, in association with a shift in the sympatho-vagal balance, estimated from the analysis of the heart rate variability towards an increase of sympathetic nervous system activity, and a decrease in insulin sensitivity.

 

[heapsreal]

i wonder if the extra cortisol release is because it recognises the dysfunctional sleep as a stress. Too much cortisol long term is know to worsen insulin sensitivity.

Just a thought, having sleep dysfunction long term one may end up with low cortisol from a type of burn out and the previous long bouts of high cortisol damages insulin receptors leave one insulin resistant, fat and no energy.

Another example why sleep dysfunction needs treating and we need more research going on in this field to come up with better treatments then we have now, hopefully with reduced side effects.

It would have been interesting if they had their growth hormone levels tested too.

thanks for posting,
cheers!!

 

[alex3619]

The liver needs to regulate fat metabolism, which is directly related to insulin sensitivity. In turn its regulated by proteins synthesized in the hypothalamus during sleep. This is an area of research that is massively under-researched. Eventually it can result in first, fatty liver, and second, type 2 diabetes.

 

[Beyond]

This is an area of research that is massively under-researched.

Insomnia is an underestimated assassin!

 

[heapsreal]

Another interesting thing about insulin sensitivity and sleep is that there is a med which is basically a quick release bromocriptine (dopamine agonist) which is now used for diabetes. Taking it first thing in the morning helps reset circadian rthyms etc and probably has other functions as well but they have found increases in insulin sensitivity.

So there is some research going on in this area but research dollars just arent spread evenly amongst illness. They know that shift workers have an increased risk from all diseases, u would think somehow researching this could prevent not only diabets but also cancer, heart disease etc

cycloset is the name of the dopamine agonist used in diabetes.