Sleeping well protects men from diabetes.However, if they sleep too much or very little the body's ability to break down sugar is reduced.

Sleeping too much or too little could increase the risk of diabetes in men, but not in women, it suggests a study of European researchers.

"Even if you are healthy, sleeping too many hours or too many hours can have a harmful effect for your health. This research shows to what extent it is important to sleep for a key aspect of health: the level of glucose [sugar] in the blood",Said the main author of the study, Femke Rutters, from the Medical Center of the University of VU in Amsterdam, Holland.

The study had almost 800 healthy adults from 14 European countries.Compared to the men who slept about 7 hours per night, the men who slept more hours or who slept less hours were more likely that their ability to break down sugar was altered and having higher levels of blood sugar,discovered the investigation.This puts them at a higher risk of Diabetes , the researchers said.

But compared to the women who slept an average amount of hours, the women who slept the most or the ones who slept less presented a greater response to insulin hormone and also had a better function of beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreas.These findings suggest that sleep problems may not increase the risk of women's diabetes, scientists said.

The study is the first to show the opposite effect of sleep problems in diabetes in men and women, researchers said, although they did not show that sleep problems cause the increased risk of diabetes in men.

During the last 50 years, the average amount of sleep of individuals has been reduced by 1.5 to 2 hours per night, and the prevalence of diabetes has doubled, according to Routters.

The findings were published online on June 29 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & AMP;Metabolism.

More information

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Renal Diseases explains how-Riesgo-de-who-me-diabetes-type-2-that-to-reduce-the-risgo-of-difer-diabetes/pages/index.aspx "> diabetes risk.