Less sleep ups diabetes, obesity risk

Researchers have reinforced the finding that too little sleep or sleep patterns that are conflicting with our body's 'internal biological clock' may cause increased risk of diabetes and obesity.

This finding by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has been seen in short-term lab studies and when observing human subjects via epidemiological studies.

However, unlike epidemiological studies, this new study provides support by examining humans in a controlled lab environment over a prolonged period, and altering the timing of sleep, mimicking shift work or recurrent jet lag.