Most of us are caffeine-fueled and plagued by a 24/7 society where
we’re constantly plugged-in, overworked, and stressed. These daily habits take
a toll on the body and impair its ability to adequately function for maximum
health and optimal performance, especially since they contribute to poor sleep.
While one night of short sleep won’t jeopardize your health, long-term sleeping
problems can have dangerous, even fatal, effects on your overall health and
wellness.
1. Sleep Deprivation and Junk Food Cravings
The inability to sleep
may lead most of us to open the fridge at 2 a.m. and reach out for the
unhealthiest, high-calorie snacks, but why? A study in
the journal Nature Communications found sleep deprivation
disrupts food choices in two ways: First, it dampens activity in several brain
areas responsible for appetitive evaluation — our ability to rank
different foods in the mind based on what they want, and second, an increase in
the brain’s amygdala — responsible for controlling the salience of food.
Excessive sleepiness impairs decision-making abilities while increasing our
desire for unhealthy foods. This affirms the association between a lack of
sleep and an increase in weight gain and obesity.
2. Sleep Deprivation and Your Skin
Beauty sleep is no myth,
ladies. A lack of sleep can lead to dull skin, fine lines, and dark circles
under the eyes. When the body doesn’t receive adequate rest, it begins to
release more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can break down skin
collagen. In astudy published
in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers found poor
sleep quality is correlated with reduced skin health and accelerates skin
aging. In addition, not only did sleep deprived women show signs of premature
skin aging, they also showed a decrease in their skin’s ability to recover
after sun exposure.
3. Sleep Deprivation and Memory Loss
On the days that you’re
most tired, you may also find that you’re most forgetful and unfocused. Sleep
helps us refine how we store memory, but a lack of sleep can lead to permanent
cognitive issues, such as memory loss. According to a University of California,
Berkeley, study in the journal Nature Neuroscience,
researchers found memories may be getting stuck in the hippocampus — the part
of brain involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing — due to the
poor quality of deep “slow wave” sleep, which is then overwritten by new
memories. In addition, sleep deprivation can cause brain deterioration, which
may help explain memory loss in the elderly.
4. Sleep Deprivation and Sex Drive
Ladies and gents, if you
have a sexual appetite, be sure not to spoil it with a lack of sleep. Sleep
deprived men and women who report lower libidos tend to have less interest in
sex due to less energy and sleepiness. Men who suffer from sleep apnea could
also be at risk for low sex drive and abnormally low testosterone levels. A study in
the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found
about half of the men who suffered from severe sleep apnea secreted lower than
average levels of testosterone during the night.
5. Sleep Deprivation and Heart Disease
Excessive sleepiness due to the attempt to maintain a work/life
balance has become too common in our society and is dangerous for our heart
health. Getting six hours or less of sleep each night causes the body to
produce more chemical and hormones that can lead to heart disease, according to
a study published in the European
Heart Journal. These hormones and chemicals can increase the risk
of stroke and other conditions, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol,
diabetes, and obesity.
6. Sleep Deprivation and Brain Damage
Men, be sure to get enough shut-eye to protect your mental health.
A study conducted by Swedish researchers found
one night with no sleep can lead to an increase in the levels of molecules that
are biomarkers for brain damage. Typically, an increase in the brain molecules
neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and S100 calcium-binding protein B (S-100B)
indicate brain tissue has been damaged or that there is a fault in the
brain-blood barrier — or sometimes both.
7. Sleep Deprivation and Death
Heart problems and diabetes aren’t the only conditions that can
lead to sleep deprivation-related death. People who sleep anywhere from
six-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half hours tend to outlive those who sleep for
less. A study in the journal Sleep found men who got less than six hours
of sleep a night were four times more likely to die over a 14-year period.
Several nights of too little sleep can lead to more than 700 genetic changes
that could significantly affect your health.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get about seven to
nine hours of sleep each night. This requirement is contingent on genetic and
physiological factors, along with age, sex, and sleeping patterns.
Sleep
deprivation is in your control, and you can prevent the seven dangerous effects
it has on your health.