Effects of Lack of Sleep

We all know having a good sleep is a blessing because many people are fighting with insomnia every day. Sleep Deprivation can have many negative effects on our body, emotions and even on our behavior. As lack of sleep is a rising issue these days so we have decided to bring some interesting facts about lack of sleep. We have collected some really serious effects of lack of sleep that you probably don’t know.

But wait before going deep into the effects of lack of sleep. Let me share some fun facts about sleep.

• Children and young adults are more affected by lack of sleep.
• Women need more sleep than men.
• Most common sleep disorder is insomnia
• Seven minutes are enough for an average person to fall asleep.
• Only mammals that delay sleep are humans.
• American president, Donald Trump, claims to be a short-sleeper.
• Creative people sleep more.
• Sleeplessness affects our brains in the same way as being drunk.
• According to NASA, a good nap lasts for 26 minutes.

Lack of Sleep effects your Skin Badly

Few sleepless nights make your eyes puffy and skin loses its glow. Sleep deprivation can grow you old early. Fine lines, dark circles, tired skin are all signs of chronic sleep lose.

A stress hormone called cortisol releases when a person does not get enough sleep. This hormone break down collagen in the skin. Collagen is responsible for keeping skin smooth and elastic. Its break down causes damage to skin.

Lack of sleep leave a negative effect on human growth. Human growth hormone doesn’t work when a person is suffering insomnia.

Sleep and Depression

Sleepiness and depression have deep relation. Sleep less than six hours a night can lead to depression. Insomnia increases the chance to develop depression five times. Stress and depression leave long lasting effect on mental and physical health.

Sleep Deprivation Effects on Brain

Lack of sleep affects brain cells. It makes a person moody and irritable. Sleepiness also affects memory. In insomnia, brain cells face difficulty in communication. For a sleep deprived person, it becomes harder to achieve focus. Better performance depends on how well we focus on tasks but with sleep deprivation people lose concentration.

As I mentioned that lack of sleep badly affects brain cells. It decreases the ability of cells to absorb visual information. So sleepiness slows down our reactions.

Moreover, Sleep deprivation also affects memory. All phases of memory such as making memories and storing them, involve certain areas of brain. Lack of sleep affect these areas of brain. Poor sleep weakens your capacity to recall memories that you have previously made.

Lack of sleep not only influence your decision making skill but also make you less creative.

Women Need More Sleep Than Men

As women are multi-tasker that’s why they need more energy to finish their tasks. More energy consequently means more sleep. An average women need 20 minutes more sleep than men.

Sleep Deprivation Effects on Body

Lack of sleep effects our body also. Diseases like heart attack, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, heart failure are all result of sleeplessness.

Weak Immune System

There are certain hormones that release only while we are sleeping. Cytokines is one of them. This substance helps in fighting with harmful bacteria and viruses. It is clear that lack of sleep prevent the normal production of these hormones. It results in weakening of immune system.

Death from Sleep Deprivation

Yes, that’s right, chronic sleep disorders are dangerous enough to increase the risk of death. According to Whitehall II study, British researchers observed those civil servants who cut short their sleep from seven to five hours had doubled their risk of death.

A genetic disorder known as ‘Fatal Familial Insomnia’ leads a person to death. This disorder is so fatal that a person suffering from this genetic problem cannot sleep at all. This disorder is so fatal that a person suffering from this genetic problem cannot sleep at all. For many years, there have been researches performed on animals in the field of sleep deprivation. Studies proved that rats who were prevented from sleep for 30 days found dead on the next day.

Lack of Sleep Increases Risk of Obesity

Sleep deprivation is associated with increased risk of obesity. Finally, there are many studies which have proved this fact. There are unpleasant effects on our metabolic mechanism if we don’t get adequate sleep.

Lack of sleep affects on the functionality of these two hormones Ghrelin and leptin. The latter stimulate hunger and the last give brain a feeling of satiety. According to scientists, lack of sleep increases the secretion of Ghrelin and suppress the release of leptin which results in weight gain.

Psychiatric Problems

In extreme conditions of sleep deprivation there is a risk of losing mental balance. Moreover, psychiatric problems trigger sleep problems. Scientists have proved that all patients with mental issues are sleep-deprived.

Along with psychiatric disorders, sleep deprivation is found in almost 50 percent of patients with anxiety disorder. People with anxiety disorder feels difficulty in falling and staying asleep.

Stages of Sleep Deprivation

There are two stages of sleep deprivation.

• Acute Stage
• Chronic Stage

Acute kind is when you go without sleep for one night or for few nights. Few consequences of acute stage are difficulty in naming things, increased sleepiness, trouble focusing, moodiness, difficulty in concentration.

Similarly chronic kind is when you are constantly missing 7 hours of sleep. If a person has long term sleep deprivation problem than these problems are more likely to occur weakening of immune system, diabetes, heart failure, high blood pressure and dementia.

Lack of Sleep Symptoms

Although I have mentioned a few symptoms before but this paragraph will give you an over view of symptoms of sleepiness.

• Yawing
• Moodiness
• Difficult learning new things
• Fatigue
• Laziness
• Carbohydrate cravings

How to pay off sleep debt

If a person suffers from acute stage of sleep lose than he can pay off his debt by getting more sleep. But if someone is at chronic stage of sleep than one should seek professional help. Making proper routine of going to bed and then waking up at the same time will definitely work.