The impact/effects of not getting adequate sleep on health.
Sleep can be defined as a behavioral state and a natural part of every person’s life. The body, including the brain, specifically shuts down to rest. One-third of our lives are spent sleeping, yet we may know little about the importance of sleep. Basically, sleep is an essential activity for normal motor and cognitive function. When we sleep and then wake up, our bodies feel rested and more alert.
Normally, getting an hour less sleep per night than required does not affect functioning during the day, but when sleep time is less than the body needs, it develops into sleep debt. The daily deficit can then accumulate across days to cause sleep debt, which can lead to health problems if it becomes too great. It begins with problem sleepiness that can have powerful effects on daytime performance, thinking, and mood.
Sleep is essential for life, and well-being and sleep that promote health are characterized by sufficient sleep duration, good quality, appropriate timing and regularity, and the absence of sleep disruptions. Sleep deprivation (lack of adequate or quality sleep), sleep disruptions (inability to maintain sleep continuity), or some events that occur during sleep, such as restless leg syndrome, can affect the body leading to numerous problems. There are short-term or long-term effects of inadequate sleep.
- Short-term effects
Increased stress: Stress activates the Central Nervous system's defense system; as a result, it causes neuroendocrine responses and behavioral responses.
Somatic problems: extreme feelings, exaggerated anxiety about physical symptoms
Reduced quality of life: The body heals and restores during sleep. Without enough sleep, the body and brain system do not function normally, hence lowering life quality.
Emotional distress: Such as depression and anxiety
Mood disorders or mental problems: lack of sleep increases negative moods such as anger, irritability, or sadness and decreases positive moods
Cognitive, memory, and performance deficits: sleep disorders impair attention and memory as well as decision-making
Behavior problems: children who do not get enough sleep have difficulty with attention and problem-solving as well as behavior problems such as tantrums
- Long-term health problems
Hypertension: sleep helps the body to regulate stress hormone and to keep the nervous system healthy; however, lack of sleep hurt’s the body’s ability to regulate stress hormone leading to high blood pressure
Dyslipidemia; lack of sleep harms lipid levels. It raises the risks of high triglycerides and low HDL (high-density lipoprotein) levels, especially in women.
Cardiovascular disease: having enough sleep decreases the heart's work, as blood pressure and heart rate decrease at night. Therefore, when the CRP (C-reactive protein) is high due to shortened sleep, it becomes a risk factor for cardiovascular and heart disease.
Weight-related issues: lack of sleep causes the reduction of leptin that is responsible for suppressing appetite and encouraging the body to expend energy
Metabolic syndrome: sleep deprivation leads to changes in metabolism and hormones regulating metabolism, decreasing leptin levels responsible for appetite suppression
Type II diabetes mellitus: Due to problems in glucose metabolism, a person is at a higher risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus
Increased risks of certain cancers and death: lack of sleep increases damage to DNA, including heightened cell death, increased cell proliferation, and increased risk for cell replication errors, therefore, increase the risks for cancer
References
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