Saner, Nicholas ORCID: 0000-0002-6011-7126 (2019) Can exercise mitigate the negative metabolic effects associated with sleep loss? PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

The increased time-demands imposed on modern society means that many people don’t meet nightly sleep recommendations. However, despite the obvious importance of sleep for the maintenance of good health, the effects of sleep loss are remarkably understudied. The consequences of sleep loss on aspects of metabolic health are becoming more apparent, with detrimental changes to glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and an increased risk of numerous metabolic conditions being reported. Comparatively, the underlying mechanisms that lead to these changes are not well characterised, but may include circadian misalignment, changes in mitochondrial function, and inhibition of the molecular signalling pathways that govern protein synthesis. Due to the emergence of these detrimental metabolic changes, interventions that are capable of mitigating these effects (which remain following bouts of ‘recovery sleep’) should be investigated. Exercise improves glucose tolerance, improves mitochondrial function and is also thought to be able to shift circadian rhythms, making it an ideal candidate to mitigate some of the detrimental effects of sleep loss. Accordingly, the overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the metabolic consequences of sleep loss, and the underlying cellular mechanisms, and to determine the effectiveness of exercise on aspects of metabolic health during a period of sleep loss.

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