Working in an office with no windows could put diabetics at risk, new study warns

The average worker in the UK spends almost 40 hours a week at their job.

And the majority of people work inside, whether in offices, warehouses, shops, schools or other locations.

This could be risky for people with diabetes, new research has found.

In a study, presented at the recent annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, it was revealed that spending time in an office without windows could affect blood sugar levels.

As part of the study, 13 retired people with type 2 diabetes spent almost 10 days in an office-style environment.

For the first half of the experiment they sat next to a window that had daylight streaming through.

And for the second half they sat under artificial LED lighting, with no window in the room.

Scientists discovered that while sitting next to the window the participants’ blood sugar levels were “normal” 59 percent of the time.

This dropped to 51 percent when under the electric light, their blood glucose monitors showed.

Professor Joris Hoeks, senior author of the study from Maastricht University, said: “People shouldn’t be stuck in poorly lit offices with no windows, these results suggest.

“It is likely that daylight positively affects your body clock, which is important for processes within the body like control of blood sugar.”

While the results may not appear to show a huge variation in blood sugar control, it could still make a big difference to people with diabetes, he said.

Prof Hoeks said: “Although we did not see a large difference in blood sugar control linked to light, this is interesting because it is very simple for people to change their daytime routine slightly and get more natural light by sitting next to a window.”

For consistency the study participants were fed the same meals and kept under “dim” lighting in the evening.

The type of light they were exposed to was changed between 8am and 5pm.

Head of research communications at Diabetes UK, Dr Lucy Chambers, believed the body’s internal clock can have an effect on blood sugar levels.

She commented: “Daylight plays a critical role in synchronising the body’s internal clock, which is known to influence many bodily functions, including the use of glucose.

“This small study hints that increasing the time spent in natural daylight could be an activity that helps some people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar levels.”

She advised partaking in more exercise and spending more time outside in general to prevent or manage diabetes.

“While questions remain about the duration and frequency of daylight required to help blood glucose management, we know that getting outside and being active can benefit us all,” she said.

“Going for a walk in your lunch break, travelling on foot or by bike, and enjoying green spaces, are some of the ways to increase time outside and physical activity.”

The study has not yet been published in a journal or reviewed by other scientists.