People tend to make most of what time can offer, often neglecting the advantages of having a good night’s sleep - and an adequate one at that.  Most would rush for seemingly important things to be done quickly.  Some would party until the wee hours of the morning, as if there is no tomorrow.  The best reason they could often think of why they often compromise sleeping is actually a surprising one: living their lives to the fullest.  What these people haven’t realized is that there are really hazards that are associated with this kind of thinking and that it can seriously compromise their health in the long run. These creeping hazards can eventually lead to chronic problems and some may have an irreversible effect.

Inadequate amounts of sleeping hours disturb and disrupt the body’s normal physiological function. Whenever a person lacks sleep, it puts him at an abnormally high alert level which pushes the body to yield out stress hormones.  This is the body’s way of coping but it can’t be really considered as one because the body eventually experiences some symptoms. These symptoms are its way of saying that sleep is really needed.

For those who have been neglecting it, here are only some of the health risks that are associated with the lack of sleep:

1. Easy Fatigability – Sleep is actually a way for the body to take time in repairing and restoring your body’s health due to the harm done by stress or other injurious factors, such as exposure to the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun or the detrimental effects of an accident. Proteins are produced by your body’s cells which allows repair to happen. When sleep is lacking, a person may feel that he lacks the strength or the energy to complete a task due to drowsiness, tiredness and body malaise.

2. Suppressed Immune System – Most people who lack sleep are prone to experience flu and colds. The lack of sleep pushes the cells to overwork in warding off invaders.  It eventually wears down the ability of the immune system to do its function, thus, exposing the person to various kinds of illnesses.  The suppression of the immune system gets rid of the body’s ability to defend itself from all sorts of bacteria and viruses.

3. Memory Impairment – Sleep allows the brain to harmonize and consolidate all that has been done, learned and felt during the day.  It connects everything allowing the brain to refresh itself, making it available for more learning and it makes space for the body to perform its abilities. So when a person lacks sleep, it is not surprising to find out that the person has an inaccurate ability to remember certain things.  These lapses may be due to the brain’s inability to connect what has been learned in the past due to its deprivation to consolidate everything. This eventually leads to difficulty in converting short-term memory to long-term memory.

4. Obesity - Most don’t realize that the lack of sleep is one of the many factors which contribute to weight gain.  As cited by the American Journal of Epidemiology, one-third of women who tend to stay asleep for five hours or less are mostly likely to add thirty-three pounds in the succeeding 16 years of their lives. This may be due to the sleeplessness effects by the production of the hormones leptin and ghrelin.

   Leptin and ghrelin are two of the many factors which are responsible in regulating a person’s weight.  Leptin affects the regulation of the person’s balance of energy which dictates food intake.  Ghrelin, on the other hand, is the one responsible in stimulating hunger.  When a person does not get enough sleep, leptin level goes down and ghrelin level goes up.  This means that the person feels he lacks the energy, thus, firing up his appetite. He wants more food and this can eventually amplify overeating.

5. Cancer – Sleeping with the lights off allows the body to produce melatonin. Melatonin is a kind of hormone which is believed to be a protective agent against the growth of any type of cancer. It has antioxidant elements that keep cells from being injured or damaged. Added to this, melatonin protects women from experiencing breast cancer because it lowers down the production of estrogen.

   Another hormone which keeps cancer cells from attacking is cortisol.  This hormone is responsible in releasing cells which stops cancer cells from invading certain parts of the body.  It is said that cortisol levels is normally high at dawn, after many hours of sleep, and goes down throughout the day. So sleep deprivation puts the body’s guards down allowing cancer cells to grow and eat up the body. 

6. Heart Attacks and Strokes – Sleep has a direct effect on the autonomic nervous system.  It helps regulate the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, thus, the blood pressure of a person does not drastically go up.  Like impaired metabolism, the body’s normal ability to regulate blood pressure gets compromised when there is a lack of sleep.  The cardiovascular system does not have any choice but to work at a higher level of momentum and pressure pushing the blood vessels to work harder than it does and eventually negatively affecting the heart.  This leads for the vessels’ walls to stiffen.  Furthermore, this overworks the pumping ability of the heart.

It is true that people are living in a fast-paced life and the demands at work and at home are getting harder and nerve-wracking.  Everything has to be done with quickness and a lot of small and big things can keep a person awake more than he should – internet, gadgets, coffee, 24-hour cable tv and 24/7-open stores are few factors which influence the sleeping schedule of a person.  If one wouldn’t be careful, the stress brought about by sleep deprivation can be your health’s time bomb waiting to blow up. 

But it’s still not too late.

To avoid the risks mentioned above, a person should avoid using the internet late at night or stop watching late-night tv shows.  Add to this, one must keep away from alcohol and caffeine and, instead, opt to go through an exercise regimen during the day but not too close to bedtime.  Having the discipline in sticking with a sleep schedule is a big plus. Make sure also to make your bedroom dark and quiet enough to stimulate sleep.

Sources
longevity.about.com
webmd.com
webmd.com
memory-key.com
uwhealth.org
washingtonpost.com
self.com
articles.cnn.com