Do You Know These Serious Consequences Of Sleep Deprivation?

Know how heart attacks, diabetes and obesity are associated with sleep deprivation and how to prevent them.

Nothing can be more frustrating for you than not being able to sleep. Many of you toss and turn at night to fall asleep.

Researchers identified many conditions such as sleep apnea, snoring, restless leg syndrome, bruxism, sleep talking, nocturnal cramps, night sweats, rhythmic movement disorders and other conditions that can severely affect your sleep and quality of living.

Lack of sleep not only affects your daily activities but also affect your health, resulting in obesity, heart attack, diabetes and early aging. Here are the reasons how lack of sleep affect your health.

Sleep loss can equal to weight gain:

Risk of obesity is related to how much time you spend in sleeping. If you are sleeping for fewer hours, then the risk of obesity is more. If you have sleep apnea, it can lead to sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can make you less active. Less active means less exercise. Less exercise can cause weight gain.

Hormones also play an important role in regulating your body weight. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses your appetite and ghrelin is a hormone that boosts the intake of food. Leptin levels decline and ghrelin levels rise with sleep deprivation.

If you sleep less than 8 hours, it not only changes the levels of leptin and ghrelin in your body, but also increases fat levels in your body. [Lack of Sleep and Weight Gain]

The best way to treat excess weight problem is to treat the underlying problem like sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be treated successfully with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). CPAP machine reduces the problem of sleep apnea, which in turn helps obesity problem.

Following healthy lifestyle helps in losing weight and it therefore reduces the risk of sleep apnea and sleep deprivation.

Higher risk of heart attacks with sleepless nights:

If you have an average sleep of five hours or less, the risk of heart attack doubles. With lack of sleep, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) gets activated. Therefore, constriction of blood vessels takes place, resulting in rise in blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack.

Sleep apnea can be the underlying cause of heart disease. People with sleep apnea have high levels of SNS during wake and sleep than people without apnea.

SNS controls involuntary functions such as constriction of blood vessels and heart rate. SNS activity decreases and blood pressure falls in people without sleep apnea while sleeping.

But, in sleep apnea patients, SNS activity increases, resulting in constriction of blood vessels and increase in heart rate. The change in heart rate and blood pressure are the indicators of heart problems.

Heart disease can be prevented by following healthy sleep habits treating sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be treated with CPAP, which plays an important role in preventing high blood pressure and heart attacks.

Decrease in your sleep means increase in your risk of diabetes:

If you sleep for five hours or less, you are at increased risk of getting diabetes. Insulin resistance is increased with sleep deprivation, which can contribute to diabetes.

Loss of slow wave sleep can increase the risk of diabetes. Slow wave sleep helps in maintaining normal glucose levels.

Reduction in slow wave sleep has an adverse effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

When you have interrupted sleep, you are less sensitive to insulin. As the sensitivity of insulin decreases, more insulin should be made to process the same quantity of glucose or blood sugar. But, your body does not make more insulin. Therefore, blood glucose levels increase due to the weakened glucose tolerance.

Glucose metabolism and controlling diabetes can be improved by treating the sleep problems. Healthy sleep habits can prevent the risk of diabetes and to feel active and alert.

Too little sleep makes you look older than your age:

Your body rests, refills, restores and rejuvenates when you sleep. When you are in delta sleep, second stage of sleep, hormone levels increase and repairing of cells takes place at this point. That means if there is any damage to the skin which contributes to aging, it will be repaired here.

Lack of sleep can result in high levels of stress hormone cortisol, which cause early aging. It can also leave you susceptible to illnesses that cause premature aging like high blood pressure.

Adults and teenagers require seven to eight hours of sleep and elderly people need less amount of sleep. Do not set up an alarm for waking up as it interrupts your body’s natural sleep cycle. Instead, go to bed early and wake up in the morning at desired time.

Improve your sleep to overcome sleep deprivation:

• Maintain regular sleep routine that is going to bed and waking up at same time, even on weekends.
• Use bed room for sleep and sex. Do not watch television, talk in telephone or complete your office works in your bedroom.
• Avoid environmental disturbances such as noise from television or traffic, light, and uncomfortable temperature.
• Relax before going to sleep. Light stretching, a warm bath, or any relaxation techniques can help to improve sleep. [Good Night's Sleep]
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, colas and alcohol before going to bed. These stimulants keep you alert.
• Do not eat too much before going to bed. Eat light snacks that can be easily digested. A glass of warm milk can help you to sleep.