New research to be presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) (Madrid, 9-13 September) shows that people recently diagnosed with diabetes who experience short or long sleep duration are more likely to experience microvascular disease (damage to the small blood vessels), which could ultimately lead to more serious complications. The study is by Mette Johansen and Thomas Olesen, Steno Diabetes Center Odense, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark, and colleagues. Microvascular complications, such as retinopathy and nephropathy, are major contributors to complications associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Increasing evidence suggests that variations in sleep duration may influence the risk of developing diabetes-related complications. This study aimed to explore the relationship between sleep duration and the presence of microvascular disease in individuals newly diagnosed with T2D. For their analysis the authors used data from The Specialist Supervised Individualized Multifactorial Treatment of New Clinically Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes in General Practice (IDA) study – a substudy from the Danish Centre for Strategic Research in Type 2 Diabetes (DD2) cohort.
Sleep duration at night was measured using Axivity AX3 accelerometers, worn by participants for a period of 10 days. Sleep duration at night was classified into three categories: short (<7 h), optimal (7 to <9 h), and long (9 h or more). Microvascular disease (.