I can't remember where I got this -- but I find it explosive in its 
implications. If you've already seen it -- oops. If not I think you'll find 
it interesting.  It's about a Lancet article from 1999.

  
    Lack Of Sleep Alters Hormones, Metabolism
CHICAGO, IL--- October 22, 1999 -- Chronic sleep loss can reduce the capacity 
of even young adults to perform basic metabolic functions such as processing 
and storing carbohydrates or regulating hormone secretion, report researchers 
from the University of Chicago Medical Center in the October 23 issue of The 
Lancet. 

Cutting back from the standard eight down to four hours of sleep each night 
produced striking changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function-changes 
that resembled the effects of advanced age or the early stages of 
diabetes-after less than one week. 

Although many studies have examined the short-term effects of acute, total 
sleep deprivation on the brain, this is the first to investigate the impact 
of chronic, partial sleep loss on the body by evaluating the metabolism and 
hormone secretion of subjects subjected to sleep restriction and after sleep 
recovery. 

"We found that the metabolic and endocrine changes resulting from a 
significant sleep debt mimic many of the hallmarks of aging," said Dr. Eve 
Van Cauter, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and director 
of the study. "We suspect that chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the 
onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as 
diabetes, hypertension, obesity .... for rest of the article go to:

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/13d2f2.htm

Namaste, Liz
<A HREF="http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html">
http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>