Chapter 20
Sleep and Metabolic Syndrome
Alexander Babayeuski and Octavian C. Ioachimescu
Abstract
<p>In our fast-paced world, sleep frequently becomes a casualty of the “24/7 model” of the society. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease epidemics seem to go hand in hand with significant and persistent alterations in human metabolism.</p> <p>Clinical studies have shown that people who sleep less than 6 hours or more than 8 hours a day are often overweight or obese. Obesity has become, at least in the western society, a very common condition. There is a strong connection between sleep apnea and obesity, diabetes and heart disease. In fact, we now know that individuals with untreated sleep apnea are at a greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, development of diabetes and/or hypertension.</p> <p>Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined very differently in the literature, but seems to be defined most of the time by a constellation of findings such as central (abdominal) obesity, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance or pre-diabetes, abnormally elevated lipids and/or other metabolic abnormalities which accompany what is called insulin resistance (IR). Given the obesity high frequency in the general population, the prevalence of MetS is, undoubtedly, on the rise.</p>
Total Pages: 66-69 (4)
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