Diabetes can have a dire effect on your sleep quality. Everything from nocturnal hypo episodes to sleep apnoea and snoring to insomnia can put a serious dent in your sleep. For diabetics, the impact of disrupted sleep goes beyond the usual lethargy and tiredness during the day. Recent research shows that diabetes and sleep patterns are closely linked.

A 2010 study found that diabetics who did not sleep well had:

• Higher levels of blood glucose in the morning
• Higher resistance to insulin
• Greater difficulty in managing their diabetes
• Reduced quality of life.

This paints a pretty grim picture for restful sleep. But there’s a bright side. The same 2010 study suggests that improving sleep quality in diabetics would come close if not equal to the benefits yielded by common diabetes medication. But how can you re-establish a healthy sleep pattern if you are diabetic? Rest assured — it can be done.

Experts agree that well-controlled diabetes leads to better sleep, and better sleep leads to better control of blood glucose levels.

Get Elevated!

An excellent way to get you back on the road to great quality sleep is to get elevated. Much research has been – and continues to be – done regarding the health benefits of elevated sleeping. For example, keeping your head elevated while you sleep can go a long way to curtailing many of those sleep disruptors— sleep apnoea and snoring to name just a couple — that often come hand in hand with diabetes. Keeping your head elevated while sleeping has been found to decrease apnoea and snoring by bringing your tongue forward so it can’t drop back and obstruct your airways. Now, this doesn’t mean throwing that second pillow under your head, as you will cause issues for your neck and back!

The safe and effective way to achieve elevated sleeping is around an adjustable base. These provide the support for your body and will achieve elevated sleep effortlessly.

So wake up to a better night’s sleep by minimising diabetes-related sleep challenges.

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Sources:

Cross-Sectional Associations Between Measures of Sleep and Markers of Glucose Metabolism Among Subjects With and Without Diabetes. Kristen L. Knutson, Eve Van Cauter, Phyllis Zee, Kiang Liu, Diane S. Lauderdale. Diabetes Care May 2011, 34 (5) 1171-1176; DOI: 10.2337/dc10-1962

Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Primary Care. LYLE D. VICTOR, M.D., M.B.A., Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center, Dearborn, Michigan Am Fam Physician. 2004 Feb 1;69(3):561-569.

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