Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center discovered that disrupting sleep damages the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, which can lead to a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study included nine volunteers, five men and four women aged between 20 and 31. All had normal weight (excessive weight can also lead to type 2 diabetes) and in good health.

The volunteers were allowed to have undisturbed sleep for 8.5 hours during the first two nights of the study. The next three nights, their sleep was disrupted the minute they were drifting into slow-wave of deep sleep. At the end of each night, they were administered an intra-venous infusion of glucose and levels of glucose and insulin were measured.

The study showed that after just three nights the ability of the volunteers to regulate blood sugar was reduced by 23 percent.

"Since reduced amounts of deep sleep are typical of aging and of common obesity-related sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea, these results suggest that strategies to improve sleep quality, as well as quantity, may help to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in populations at risk," said co-author Dr. Eve Van Cauter, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

Previous studies have shown an association with diabetes and a lack of sleep. It is already a fact that deepest sleep is associated with changes that affect metabolism.

"We had shown previously that restricting sleep duration in healthy young adults results in decreased glucose tolerance. The current data further indicate that not only reduced sleep duration but also reduced sleep quality may play a role in diabetes risk. The current evidence suggests that strategies to improve sleep duration and quality should be considered as a potential intervention to prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes in at-risk populations," said Dr. Ersa Tasali, of the University of Chicago.

He also added that more study is needed to find out if age-related changes in sleep quality contribute to such metabolism changes.

According to the leading charity Diabetes UK, there are more than 2.3 million people with diabetes in the UK and up to 750,000 more who have the condition but do not know it. Between 85 percent and 95 percent of diabetes cases are type 2, which typically develops later in life and is linked to obesity.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Its results appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.