The cost of the ‘intervention’ (catching up on sleep) is what is at issue here, and that is ‘free’. So we’ll rule this Not Applicable. Benefits are not quantified in a meaningful way. The story says, “insulin sensitivity had fallen by 23 percent and their bodies had started to produce extra insulin. But when researchers checked again after two nights of extended rest, the men’s insulin sensitivity, and the amount of insulin their bodies produced, had returned to normal.”  A 23% drop sounds substantial, but was it clinically important? What were the absolute numbers? We think the story could have done more here to help readers understand what was observed and what it means. Hard to imagine the “harms” of getting more sleep, so we’ll rate this Not Applicable. The story includes some useful qualifiers regarding the quality of the study and what conclusions can be drawn: The study doesn’t prove sleeping late every weekend can counter the ill effects of insufficient rest every other night of the week, Broussard cautioned. And it doesn’t prove that catching up on sleep will prevent diabetes. It also notes: “The results from the present study are unlikely to be fully reflective of what may occur in persons who are older, overweight or obese, or have other potent risk factors for diabetes,” said James Gangwisch, a researcher at Columbia University who wasn’t involved in the study. The story could have provided more detail about the subjects, the relationship between insulin resistance and sleep deprivation vs other lifestyle issues, and previous research showing similar results. None here. Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are important public health problems. The article did a good job, as noted earlier, of highlighting the limitations of the study, and quotes an outside researcher saying as much. Kudos! This article would have been greatly strengthened if it had at least mentioned the lifestyle and other interventions that can indeed reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes or its complications, including weight reduction, good diets, exercise and medications. The issue of detecting and addressing diabetes risk factors such as insulin resistance issues in children and teenagers also could have put this article in better perspective, with respect to the apparent young age of the subjects. The availability of sleep is not in question. The article did point out the calorie control part of the protocol, and the possibly novel notion that two days of non-deprived sleep can reverse the insulin resistance increase observed in the subjects. It is clear what this small study aimed to add to the science. Since the story includes commentary from an independent expert, we can be sure it didn’t rely excessively on a news release.
Sleeping in on weekends may help reduce diabetes risk