Sleep disorders increases risk of diabetes and heart disease 6-times

London, Jan 30 (ANI): Having problems in falling asleep may put you on the risk diabetes and heart disease. A recent study has found that sleep disorder increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease six times.

As per reports of Daily Mail symptoms of diabetes developed after just three days of troubled sleep.

These findings could help to explain previous research that states that night shift workers are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The study done on 20,000 participants found those with any of four particular variants of the gene were at much greater risk. This finding provides hope of personalized treatments for the condition.

Researchers said that the faulty protein, known as MT2, may disrupt the link between our 24 hour, or circadian, rhythms and release of the hormone insulin – causing abnormal control of blood sugar and, that results in type 2 diabetes.

"Blood sugar control is one of the many processes regulated by the body's biological clock,” Professor Philippe Froguel, of Imperial College London has been quoted as saying.

"This study adds to our understanding of how the gene that carries the blueprint for a key component in the clock can influence people's risk of diabetes.

"We found very rare variants of the MT2 gene that have a much larger effect than more common variants discovered before. Although each mutation is rare, they are common in the sense that everyone has a lot of very rare mutations in their DNA.

"Cataloguing these mutations will enable us to much more accurately assess a person's risk of disease based on their genetics," he said.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: "Genetic studies like this one are useful as they can help us understand how a person's genetic makeup can influence their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.” Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK was quoted as saying.

In the study, researchers analyzed the MT2 gene in 7,632 to know about more unusual variants that have a bigger influence on disease risk.

The researcher found 40 associated with type 2 diabetes, four of which were very rare and rendered the receptor protein completely in efficient of responding to the hormone melatonin.

The researchers then confirmed the link of these four mutations in an extra sample of 11,854 people.

Every mutation was analyzed by testing its effect on the MT2 receptor in human cells in the lab.

The mutations that clearly stopped the receptor from working have great impact on the risk of diabetes. This suggests that there is a direct link between MT2 and the disease.

"This risk is not controlled by one single gene, however, and we already know that other genetic changes, as well as lifestyle factors, can affect the likelihood of developing this complex condition," Dr Frame was quoted as saying.

"The more we understand about the effect of these genetic differences, the more likely it is that we will be able to design new drugs or apply existing drug treatments for people with type 2 diabetes, but we are not yet at that stage.”

"What we can be sure of now is that eating a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight and being more physically active can help to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as help people with the condition to manage it more effectively, and lower the likelihood of developing serious complications," he said.

Nature Genetics has published this latest study.

--With inputs from ANI