Chronic Short Sleep is the Royal Road to Diabetes and Obesity.

When the men awoke, following the sleep-deprived state, their hunger and appetite increased - especially for calorie-dense, high carbohydrate foods. "Chronic short sleep is the royal road to diabetes and obesity," says Karine Spiegel, a sleep researcher and author of the study.

It appears, some researchers believe, that the links between sleep deprivation and obesity are two interacting epidemics. "A few years ago, I would look at obese people and see weakness of character," says Fred Turek, a sleep researcher at Northwestern University and director of the Centre of Sleep & Circadian Biology. "Now I believe that if you interfere with sleep, you're interfering with weight. If you interfere with weight, you're interfering with sleep."

The Nurses' Health Study, an epidemiological study begun in 1976 monitoring the health of more than 100,000 nurses, put poundage to sleep loss. In a study reported in this year's August 16 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers found that after 12 to 16 years, women who slept, on average, less than five hours were 5-1/2 pounds heavier than those who slept an average of seven hours per night.

A good night's sleep also can stave off short-term illness such as colds and flu, as well as hasten the benefits of a flu shot.

In a study reported in the September 25, 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association, 25 healthy young men, who normally slept seven to eight hours each night, received flu shots.