Getting a certain amount of sleep could help ward off diabetes, a new study suggests.

A team of Chinese researchers studied how sleep duration on weekdays is associated with insulin resistance, a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The long-term observational study, held from 2009 to 2023, included about 25,000 participants.

The “sweet spot” for low insulin resistance was about seven hours and 18 minutes of sleep per night, found the research, which was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

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Large deviations from this benchmark — either too much or too little sleep — were associated with worse insulin sensitivity. Shorter sleep was linked with higher insulin resistance, while longer sleep had worse metabolic markers.

Getting extra “catch-up” sleep on the weekends did not make up for deficits during the week, the study found, as excessive sleep showed a risk of worsening glucose metabolism in some participants.

“These correlational findings suggest that sleep patterns, particularly weekend recovery sleep, may be relevant for metabolic regulation in diabetes and could inform considerations for healthcare professionals in managing patient care,” the researchers concluded in the study.

As this was an observational study, the findings show associations rather than cause and effect, they noted. Sleep duration was also self-reported, which could pose a limitation.

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The study did not measure sleep quality, which could play a role in outcomes. Other lifestyle factors, like diet, stress and shift work, could influence results as well.

Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for comment.

‘Useful’ yet ‘too simplistic’

Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel said the study produced “useful information.”

“We have long known that there is an association between sleep and insulin resistance,” Siegel, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital. “This is because the restorative aspect of sleep helps to regulate metabolic function and hormones, and also decrease inflammation.”

“But as this study shows, both too much and too little sleep may lead to more insulin resistance (and diabetes) via metabolic dysregulation,” he added.

Dr. Aaron Pinkhasov, a board-certified psychiatrist and chair of the department of psychiatry at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, said the concept of sleeping a certain number of hours to prevent diabetes is “too simplistic.”

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“Sleep is only one part of metabolic health, along with genetics, body weight, diet, physical activity and stress,” the sleep expert, who also wasn’t part of the study, told Fox News Digital.

“The study provides only a snapshot in time, so it cannot prove that sleep duration actually causes insulin resistance,” he went on. “It is also possible that underlying problems — such as metabolic illness, pain, depression or low activity — lead people to sleep longer or shorter.”

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The “practical message” for adults, according to Pinkhasov, is to aim for about seven to nine hours of quality sleep on a regular schedule, as part of an “overall strategy to reduce diabetes risk.”

“The study strengthens the idea that sleep should be considered as important as diet and exercise when discussing diabetes risk,” he added. “The key message is not the exact number of hours, but that both chronic sleep deprivation and irregular sleep patterns are associated with higher insulin resistance.”

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More than 40 million Americans — about 12% of the population — have diabetes, according to 2026 CDC data. About 11 million (27.6%) of cases are undiagnosed, and more than 115 million U.S. adults have prediabetes.

Case 1:25-cv-11916-BEM Document 291 Filed 03/16/26

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Milhoan, 50 Dr. James Pagano, Dr. Raymond Pollak, 52 -appear to lack any expertise or professional qualifications related to vaccines or immunization as required by ACIP’s Charter. See ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. An additional three of the current ACIP members Dr. Retsef Levi, 53 Dr. Robert Malone, 54 and Dr. Catherine Stein 55_though they have

50 Dr. Milhoan “is a pediatric cardiologist and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon,” who “holds a Ph.D. in the mechanisms of myocardial inflammation.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. There is no evidence in the record that Dr. Milhoan has any relevant vaccine-related experience or expertise.
51 Dr. Pagano “is a board-certified emergency medicine physician with more than 40 years of clinical experience.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. There is no evidence in the record that Dr. Pagano has any relevant vaccine-related experience or expertise.
52 Dr. Pollak “is a surgeon, transplant immunobiologist, and transplant specialist who has published more than 120 peer-reviewed works and served as principal investigator on NIH transplant biology grants and numerous drug trials.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. There is no evidence in the record that Dr. Pollak has any relevant vaccine-related experience or expertise.

53 Defendants describe Dr. Levi, Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, as “a leading expert in healthcare analytics, supply chain and manufacturing analytics, risk management, and biologics and vaccine safety” and note that he has “collaborated with industry stakeholders and public health agencies to develop decision-support models to evaluate biologics and vaccine safety” and co-authored studies examining the association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and risks of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. However, based on the current record, he has published only two papers discussing vaccines, and both of those were published mere months before his appointment. Retsef Levi, et al., Twelve-Month All-Cause Mortality after Initial COVID-19 Vaccination with Pfizer- BioNTech or mRNA-1273 among Adults Living in Florida, MedRxiv (Apr. 29, 2025), https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.25.25326460v1 [https://perma.cc/NGN8-SARX] (cited at Compl. ¶77(g) n.53); Josh Guetzkow, et al., Observed-to-Expected Fetal Losses Following mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination in Early Pregnancy, MedRxiv (June 20, 2025), https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.18.25329352v1.full- text [https://perma.cc/EKL3-ELMS] (cited at Compl. ¶ 77(g) n.53). Publishing two papers on a topic, while no doubt relevant to ACIP, likely does not rise to the level of “expertise” called for under ACIP governing documents. See Expertise, Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024) (defining “expertise” as “[s]kill or knowledge in a particular subject; specialized experience that gives rise to a facility that comparatively few people possess”).
54 Defendants describe Dr. Malone, an adjunct professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, as “a vaccinologist, scientist, and biochemist known for his early contributions to mRNA vaccine technology” whose “expertise spans molecular biology, immunology, and vaccine development.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. The only evidence in the record of his experience related to vaccines is that he was involved in early research on mRNA technology in the 1980s and 1990s. See id. Even crediting that experience, the Court cannot conclude that this experience, thirty plus years ago, constitutes the requisite expertise necessary for ACIP today. Further, the scope of his role in that research is disputed, see Davey Alba, The Latest Covid Misinformation Star Says Не Invented the Vaccines, N.Y. Times (Apr. 3, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html (cited at Compl. ¶ 77(h) n.59), which the Court need not resolve at this juncture.

55 Dr. Stein is a professor at Case Western Reserve University and “an epidemiologist with more than two decades of research experience on tuberculosis and infectious diseases and 115 peer reviewed publications.” ACIP Membership Roster, supra note 16. However, there is no evidence in the record that her experience and expertise relate to vaccines, vaccination, vaccine safety, or vaccine policy as to be relevant to ACIP’s function.

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The first case of severe mpox (formerly monkeypox) has been identified in New York City, according to an advisory issued by the NYC Health Department.

One resident has tested positive for mpox clade I, one of the two main genetic groups (clades) of the mpox virus, which causes the illness.

“Clade I causes more severe symptoms and can be life-threatening,” Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital. “It spreads via direct contact or sex, and kissing, and very close respiratory droplets, but not over longer distances by respiratory spread.”

MPOX STRAIN SURFACES IN US WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL, RAISING FEARS OF WIDER OUTBREAK

Clade II was the strain that caused a 2022 global outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Survival rates for this type are more than 99.9%.

Clade I, which was responsible for the 2024 outbreak in the DRC and Africa, is known to cause more severe illness and deaths. 

The New York City patient recently traveled out of the country, the advisory states. “This appears to have come here from travel and has not spread locally,” Siegel noted.

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There is no known local transmission of mpox clade I in New York City and the risk remains low for local residents, according to NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin.

“The NYC Health Department recommends that New Yorkers who are at risk for mpox receive and complete the two-dose vaccine series that works to prevent mpox,” he said in a statement.

To help prevent transmission, the CDC recommends vaccination for men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men, are age 18 or older, and have other specific risks. Those who plan to travel to areas where clade I mpox is spreading should also seek the vaccine.

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People who may have been in close contact with an infected person should get the vaccine within 14 days.

As with other viral infections, those who are immunocompromised or very young are at the greatest risk of severe infection.

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Vaccination can help reduce the chances of infection and also makes symptoms less severe, according to experts. The two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine is the most common type of protection. Those who have had mpox do not need to be vaccinated.

Mpox symptoms include a sometimes painful, blistery rash on various parts of the body, fever, chills, exhaustion, muscle aches, headache, swollen lymph nodes and respiratory symptoms, according to the CDC. These symptoms usually emerge one to three weeks after exposure.

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In rare cases, mpox can lead to eye infections, severe rash, painful skin lesions and neurological problems.

Treatment for mpox involves supportive care to manage symptoms. In severe cases, patients may receive TPOXX (tecovirimat), an antiviral medication used to treat infections caused by viruses related to smallpox, including mpox, Siegel noted.