During my third year at Regis, I was fortunate enough to take a biochemistry class with one of my favorite teachers: Dr. Stacy Chamberlain. She teaches undergraduate biochemistry and if you have never met her, you can meet her in the chemistry suite on the third floor of the science building, she is awesome!! All fangirling aside, the reason I mention her is because she told us a story that I will not forget, and from which I learned a valuable lesson; Dr. Chamberlain is one of the happiest, healthiest, most active, most resilient and genuinely fun people I have met, and depsite all of this she is still pre-diabetic (and let me tell you that this REALLY pisses her off!).
Dr. Chamberlain continued on to tell us (after she fumed about how pissed she really was) that it all traced back to her habits in college. She would stay up all hours of the night studying and stressing about her school work. In total she averaged a whopping 3-4 hours fo sleep a night, if she managed to get even that. Albeit, she did incredibly well in college and is reaping the benefits from it now, but she is also dealing with the unforseen consequences. It does not matter how active or how healthy a lifestyle she is living now, due to her wacky sleep habits for such a prolonged amount of time (all 4 years of college!!) she is pre-diabetic, and her doctors say that she will most likely be indefnitely.
Sleep is very important. Not only does it feel oh so good to hit the pillow and let the day melt away, but it is also the time for our bodies to repair and restore itself. According to a study done to assess the relationship between sleep deprivation and type 2 diabeties, it is nsuggested that a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night is needed for metabolism to work normally (Al-Abri, et. al., 2016). Insufficient sleep throws your hormones out of proportion. With prolonged sleep deprivation, less insulin will be released after meals and staying awake increases your cortisol levels. These combined hormonal imbalances result in too much glucose staying in the bloodstream, which increases the risk for type 2 diabetes.
The moral of the story is this program is already a little bit stressful and our cortisol levels are already most likely higher than normal. Not only because this is a rigourous program but COVID-19 on top of it (yeesh!). Keeping as much balance in our hormones is beneficial to us and getting an adequate amount of sleep is vital. I implore you to take care of yourselves and one another. Anatomy can wait, get some sleep! We can study some more in the morning. (:
References:
Al-Abri, M. A., Jaju, D., Al-Sinani, S., Al-Mamari, A., Albarwani, S., Al-Resadi, K., Bayoumi, R., Hassan, M., & Al-Hashmi, K. (2016). Habitual Sleep Deprivation is Associated with Type 2 Diabetes: A Case-Control Study. Oman medical journal, 31(6), 399–403. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2016.81
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/link-between-lack-sleep-and-type-2-diabetes
Nisa, thank you for posting this! In the midst of all these exams, I think it's really important to reflect on our sleeping habits and how it can affect our everyday lives both physiologically and mentally. It is crucial that we establishing good sleeping habits during graduate school because it will only benefit us as future healthcare professionals. An article I found assessed the effects of poor, inadequate sleep in clinicians. It can be said that less than five hours of sleep per night reduces ones' ability to perform previously learned tasks, impairs the ability to make sound decisions, and can have effects on concentration. Additionally, this article states that not even eight hours of sleep/day for three days can reverse the effects of chronic sleep deprivation due to extreme sleep deficits. Furthermore, sleep deprivation can cause problems in motivation, performance, and can ultimately lead to burnout. This not only affects clinicians and their physical and mental health, but it can have detrimental effects on patient outcomes! With respect to non-malfeasance, clinicians should be implementing effective sleep habits to reduce the risk of harm to patients. Therefore, it is so important that we make sure to get enough rest in order to replenish our minds and bodies.
ReplyDeleteParry, D., Oeppen, R., Amin, M., & Brennan, P. (2018). Sleep: Its importance and the effects of deprivation on surgeons and other healthcare professionals. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 56(8), 663-666. doi:10.1016/j.bjoms.2018.08.001
Hi Nisa! Thank you for your insight and as someone who is writing this at 12:22am, you think I would listen to your advice (ha! I'm working on it). Although I am currently deprived of sleep, I do enjoy taking daily naps throughout my day as you will probably see before genetics tomorrow. According to Dhand and Sohal (2006), naps can play a part in restoring wakefulness and promote learning. With about 10 minutes of napping, we stay in the lighter stages of NREM or non-rapid eye movement sleep, which allows us to wake less groggy and with more energy (Dhand & Sohal, 2006). I have found with our long days at school that 10 minute naps help immensely with restoring my learning environment as well as being able to truck through the rest of the day with such utter enthusiasm! So with your advice, I also recommend getting in a small nap here and there when needed for the ultimate survivor guide to school. Thanks again, Nisa!
ReplyDeleteDhand, R., & Sohal, H. (2006). Good sleep, bad sleep! The role of daytime naps in healthy adults. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 12(6), 379–382. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.mcp.0000245703.92311.d0
DeleteHey Nisa, thanks for the very interesting post. I was always told to get 8 hours of sleep but was not aware that lack of slep can cause one to become pre-diabetic. From my time in college I have discovered the benefits of establishing a circadiam rythm and just how impostant it is to prioritize sleep. I wonder how long this lack of sleep has to occur for there to be long term effects like the ones Dr. Chamberlain is experiencing. Do you think you could couteract this lack of metabolic activity caused by the lack of sleep with activities that increase metabolic activity, liking exercising for example. I think of people with very high stress jobs that on average get less sleep, and how they might be able to conteract these effects by regulating their diet and other aspects of their life. Nonetheless, you bring up a very interesting example and a great post!
ReplyDeleteWe all hear that we should be getting our 7-9 hours of sleep a night, but this definitely helps show why it is important. I had always thought that the biggest direct consequence of not getting enough sleep was just on long term memory, since I had learned in my cognitive neuroscience class that REM sleep is crucial for converting short-term memories into long-term ones. I also viewed sleep deficiency always seemed more related to psychological issues such as being more likely to develop depression, but seeing that there can be long-term physical health consequences as a result of not getting enough sleep definitely makes me realize that there is a point when nothing else is more important. This makes me wonder what biochemical role sleep deprivation plays in someone becoming pre-diabetic.
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