Sleep Well Naturally

What are the consequences of sleep deprivation:

 

In the short term:

 

• Decreased Performance and Alertness: Sleep deprivation induces significant reductions in performance and alertness. Reducing your night time sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.

 

• Memory and Cognitive Impairment: Decreased alertness and excessive daytime sleepiness impair your memory and your cognitive ability - your ability to think and process information.

 

• Stress in Relationships: Disruption of a bed partner's sleep due to a sleep disorder may cause significant problems for the relationship (for example, separate bedrooms, moodiness, etc.).

 

• Poor Quality of Life: You might, for example, be unable to participate in certain activities that require sustained attention, like going to the movies, seeing your child in a school play, or watching a favorite TV show.

 

• Occupational Injury: Excessive sleepiness also contributes to a greater than twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury.

 

• Automobile Injury: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.

 

In the long term:

 

• High blood pressure, Heart attack, Stroke: Sleep plays a vital role in your body’s ability to heal and repair your blood vessels and heart. According to Harvard Medical School, for people with hypertension, one night without enough sleep can cause elevated blood pressure all through the next day. According to a 2011 research people who slept for six hours or less each night and have problems staying asleep had a 48 percent higher risk of developing or dying from heart disease. Furthermore, according to 2012 research. Adults who regularly slept fewer than six hours a night had four times the risk of stroke symptoms.

 

• Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes: Sleep deprivation increases production of the stress hormone cortisol. Lack of sleep lowers your levels of a hormone called leptin, which tells your brain that you’ve had enough to eat. In addition, it raises levels of ghrelin, which is an appetite stimulant. Sleep deprivation prompts your body to release higher levels of insulin after you eat, promoting fat storage and increasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  According to a 2004 study, people who sleep less than six hours a day were almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who slept seven to nine hours. Not only does sleep loss appear to stimulate appetite. It also stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.

 

• Psychiatric problems, including depression and other mood disorders:  The most common sleep disorder, insomnia, has the strongest link to depression. In a 2007 study of 10,000 people, those with insomnia were five times as likely to develop depression as those without. In fact, insomnia is often one of the first symptoms of depression. Insomnia and depression feed on each other. Sleep loss often aggravates the symptoms of depression, and depression can make it more difficult to fall asleep. On the positive side, treating sleep problems can help depression and its symptoms, and vice versa.

 

• Aging of skin and body: When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic. Sleep loss also causes the body to release too little human growth hormone which helps increase muscle mass, thicken skin, and strengthen bones.

 

• Increased colds and flus: When you’re sleeping, your immune system produces protective cytokines and infection-fighting antibodies and cells. It uses these tools to fight off foreign substances like bacteria and viruses. Sleep deprivation means your immune system doesn’t have a chance to build up its forces. Studies show that if you don’t get enough sleep, It may take you longer to recover from illness.  Also you’re more vulnerable to respiratory problems like the common cold and influenza. If you already have a chronic lung disease, sleep deprivation is likely to make it worse.

 

• Increases risk of cancer: Research suggests that short and poor sleep can increase the risk for certain types of cancer. A 2010 study found that among 1,240 people screened for colorectal cancer, the people who were diagnosed  averaged fewer than six hours of sleep a night. Getting just six hours of sleep a night has also been linked to an increase of recurrence in breast cancer patients.