sleep loss tied to changes in gut bacteria
the changes are similar to those observed in some obese patients researchers say
getting too little sleep alters the balance of bacteria in the gut a change that linked to certain metabolic conditions including obesity and type 2 diabetes new research shows
for the study European researchers limited the sleep of nine healthy men who were a normal weight to examine how sleep loss did affects the number of types of bacteria in the gut
for two day in a row the men slept only four a night the study showed the diversity of gut bacteria did not change but sleep loss did alter the balance of the existing groups of bacteria
the study results were publishea recently in the journal metabolism
these changes parallel some of the differences seen when obese people have been compared with normal weight people in other studies senior study author
the sleep deprived paetcipants were also 20 percent less sensitive to the effects of insulin this pancreatic hormone helps regulate blood sugar levels the study found
this decreased insulin sensitivity was however unrelated to alteration in gut microbiota following sleep loss said study
said study first author christian benedict an associate professor of neuroscience at uppsala
this suggests that changes in gut bacteria may not represent a central mechanism through which one or several nights of cutailed sleep reduce insulin sensitivity in humans
the study authors said more research is needed to assess sensitivity tothe effects of sleep loss and how it
longer and larger clinical sleep interventions will be needed to investigate to what extent alterations of the gut microbiota may mediate negative health consequences attributed to sleep loss such as weight gain and insulin resistance