Sleep deficiency. What happens if one does not get enough sleep all the time

If you are constantly not getting enough sleep, then you are risking your own health. Lack of a sleep undermines the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and nervous system health. Even a few nights of poor sleep can affect blood sugar levels and contribute to overeating. Also, changes can be observed at the DNA level.


 

We present to your attention 10 reasons why it is still not worth saving on sleep.

 

If you sleep less than 7 hours a day, you are at risk. So, the less you sleep, the more you risk getting fat. This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by the Institute of Medicine. The fact is that lack of sleep suppresses the hormones responsible for appetite and their proper work. Leptin, responsible for inhibition of appetite, decreases, while the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, on the contrary, stimulates. Not getting enough sleep can also brings to the increased secretion of cortisol, which is called the stress hormone. It also makes you feel hungrier. Due to lack of sleep, the concentration of growth hormone decreases as well. Under normal conditions, it efficiently breaks down fats and converts them into energy. However, if its level goes down, the body begins to accumulate excess weight.

 

When a person is very hungry, he or she is less likely to think about how healthy the food he is eating. Another study published in the "Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine", by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine states that people suffering from sleep apnea or any other diseases that cause breathing problems during sleep, eat more cholesterol, protein, unsaturated fats. This is especially true for women.

 

In people with diabetes or glucose intolerance, lack of sleep may increase the risk of disease worsening. Studies have shown that if a person sleeps only 5 hours or less per day, then the risk of an attack of diabetes increases 2.5 times (if sleep lasts 6 hours or less, the risk increases 1.7 times).

 

If a woman sleeps only 5 hours or less a day, the risk of a heart attack increases by 45%.

 

So, an apnea syndrome, experts often associate with a high blood pressure, which bothers a person during the day. A study by the Institute of Medicine has shown that the more severe the sleep disorder, the higher a high blood pressure.

 

According to a study by the American Automobile Association (AAA), sleepy drivers are responsible for one in ten accidents.

During sleep, the cerebral cortex processes information from internal organs, and recover processes are also triggered. If a sleep is disturbed, then the work of internal organs goes wrong and immunity drops sharply. Therefore, if a person is chronically lack of sleep, the risk of getting the flu or any viral disease increases several times.

 

This applies to both adults and young people: they all run the risk of facing depression and the development of low self-esteem. Lack of sleep is especially dangerous for the health of women. Moreover, an adequate sleep of women is a guarantee of family happiness. For a woman constantly lacking sleep conflicts, quarrels and scandals are inevitable. But a sleeping woman radiates happiness and contentment, creates an atmosphere of comfort and coziness.

 

Studies have shown that children with insomnia, obesity-related breathing problems, are most susceptible to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is worth noting that children need more sleep than adults. Thus, four-year-old children who sleep less than the norm (less than 11-12 hours) are more likely to suffer from various behavioral deviations, such as hyperactivity, impaired attention, aggression and anger.

 

Head of the Sleep Medicine Center, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov and an expert of the European Sleep and Research Society (ESRS) Alexander Kalinkin claims that within seven days without sleep any organism dies: "If we deprive a person of water, the person will live 18 days, 72 days without food, and only a week without sleep." Research in this area has been carried out in a number of countries. "If you sleep only 5 hours a day (or even less), you should know that you are literally bringing death closer: the risk rises by 15%."This conclusion was reached by scientists in their study, published in the pages of the journal "Sleep and psychological reactions. Archives of General Psychiatry".


 

Every night, almost one in three people on Earth has trouble with sleeping. About 5-10% of the population suffers from insomnia. However, doctors insist that the eight hours of sleep is the minimum to maintain well-being.

What if you cannot fall asleep? Try to create the conditions necessary for a normal night rest:

1. Security. Sleeping in a safe place reduces stress levels and makes it easier to fall asleep.

2. Temperature. The quality of sleep will deteriorate when a temperature decreases, and even worse, when it increases.

3. Air humidity, light and noise pollution. If the air in your bedroom is too dry or too humid, you can hardly sleep comfortably. Also, make sure your bedroom is completely dark and quiet.

4. Diet. It must be remembered that undereating, like overeating at night, impairs the quality of a sleep.

5. Alcohol and smoking. Drinking alcohol, on the one hand, promotes falling asleep, but, on the other hand, causes early awakening and defragmentation of sleep.

6. Abuse of caffeinated products. This is not only coffee and tea, but also all carbonated drinks, often containing very high doses of caffeine, chocolate.

7. Medicines. Many drugs, from those that lower blood pressure or cholesterol levels, to those prescribed for sleep disorders, can impair the quality of sleep.