Poor Sleep May Have Negative Affect On Metabolic Health

Poor sleep has been linked with an increased risk of many chronic health problems including diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Now a recent study has found that poor sleep may increase the risk of developing metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver (MAFLD) disease.

Participants in the study included 5,011 adults with fatty liver disease. Participants completed surveys used to gather data about sleep behaviors. The data was used to generate a healthy sleep score for each participant and evaluate the association between sleep behaviors and MAFLD.

The researchers found that late bedtime, snoring, and daytime napping for more than 30 minutes were found to increase the risk of developing fatty liver disease. They also found that moderate improvements in sleep quality helped decrease the risk. Specifically, every additional increase in the healthy sleep score was associated with a 16% decreased risk of MAFLD.

The study was conducted by researchers from Sun Yat-sen University. It was published online ahead of print on July 28, 2022 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

A previous study found that insufficient sleep may be linked with increased visceral fat.