Experts are just beginning to understand how
sleep affects just about everything you do. But they do suggest you look
out for these scary side effects of skimping on sleep in your 20s:
1. Increased risk of disease: In a recent study involving
more than 54,000 adults, researchers found that people who sleep less than
six hours per night (or more than nine) were significantly more likely to have
heart disease or diabetes, have suffered a stroke, or be obese, even after
researchers adjusted the results for other known risk factors.
2. Heightened blood pressure: Sleep loss
stresses out your body and mind in a way that causes your blood pressure to
spike. Over time, this could damage your heart, arteries, kidneys, and even
bring about stroke, loss of vision, and a host of other health problems you seriously don't want.
3. Weakened immune system and reduced
effectiveness of certain vaccinations: Vaccines are designed to trick
your body into creating antibodies that provide immunity to a particular
disease or infection. But exhaustion compromises the immune system, so your
body doesn't produce adequate antibodies, according to a study in which researchers administered hepatitis B
vaccinations and measured patients' antibodies before and after treatment.
People who slept fewer than six hours a night were the least likely to respond
to the vaccine and were 11.5 percent more likely to emerge unprotected.
4. Stress: When you don't get enough sleep, your
body naturally releases the stress hormone cortisol, says Dr. Shalini
Paruthi, director of the Pediatric Sleep and Research Center at SSM Cardinal
Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and an AASM fellow.
And it doesn't matter whether you were up late to work on
spreadsheets or to work on catching up on The Mindy
Project.
5. Greater risk of death: People who sleep
less than five hours per night are 15 percent more likely to die from
literally any cause, according to data from
three massive studies. So yes, going to bed too late could eventually kill
you.
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6. Impaired creativity: Neuroimaging studies suggest
that the brain spontaneously reorganizes information when you rest, which could
explain why it's so much harder to focus and come up with ideas when you
haven't slept.
7. Moodiness: There's something about exhaustion
that turns you into Negative Nancy: In a two-year study in
which 78 medical residents tracked their sleep and intermittently recorded
their emotional responses to various stimuli, researchers found that fatigue
intensified participants' negative emotions. Sleep deprivation
actually affects your mood even more than it does your motor and
cognitive performance, according to a massive review of 19 original
research studiespublished
in Sleep. Meaning? You're more susceptible to angry tangents
when you're sleepy.
8. Lower GPA: Research suggests that college students who sleep the
least earn lower grades than those who sleep nine or more hours per night.
Your brain needs to cycle through certain deep sleep stages to store memories
and solidify the things you learn. When you fall asleep, your heart rate
and metabolic rate drop so your body can focus on those things, says Dr.
Paruthi. No sleep, no storage.
9. Poor decisions: Many parts of the brain
are involved in decision-making. When you don't give your brain enough
rest, it functions at half-mast, and you'll end up making less than savory
choices, Dr. Paruthi says.
10. Twitchy eyes: Dr. Paruthi says fatigue can
cause an awkward-looking eye spaz called nystagmus, which makes your eyeballs
move even involuntarily, even though your head is still.
11. Fertility issues: While there's no
conclusive proof that sleep deprivation directly causes infertility, experts
know that lack of sleep can stress you out and suspect it can also can
interfere with your body's circadian rhythm. Together, this can ultimately
suppress your reproductive hormones and impair your ability to sustain a
pregnancy, according to an article published in Sleep Medicine.
12. Sex drought: Sleep or sex? Sex or sleep?
When you're really, really tired, you don't always get to chooZzZz.
13. Weight gain: Countless studies have found that people who sleep less are
more likely to be overweight. That's probably because sleep deprivation messes
with the hormones that regulate your appetite (ghrelin) and tell your brain
you're full (leptin), which can lead to chronic overeating, according to a
review of experimental and observational studies of sleep published in The American
Journal of Human Biology.
14. Fat Gene activation: Sleep loss basically
turns your body against you: Research done
on twins suggests that skimping on sleep (i.e., sleeping less than seven hours
per night for the purposes of this study) fires up whatever fat-storing genes
you have to increase your risk of gaining fat and holding on to it for
good.
15. Emotional eating: In a recent study of
114 college students, participants were more likely to increase their food
intake in response to strong feelings when they were particularly
tired.
16. Depression: Sleep and depression are
interrelated: Research suggests people who suffer from insomnia are
more likely to suffer from major depression than people who sleep
regularly.
17. Increased risk of car accidents: "Sleep-deprived
patients in simulators have just as many accidents as someone who is
drunk," Dr. Paruthi says.
18. Slower reaction time: When your brain isn't
well rested, it doesn't take in information, process it, and respond to it as
quickly as usual. "You lose speed before accuracy," Dr. Paruthi
explains. "You'll get your work done, but it will take longer."
19. Tired partner: Even if you're the lone wolf
who stays up late to online shop or binge-watch The Affair, you're
not the only one who suffers sleep debt and associated side effects. If you
sleep with a partner, you'll likely wake him up when you jump into bed a
few hours later, which compromises his sleep quantity and quality. Regular
rude awakenings could cause him to experience any number of the side
effects listed here.
20. Tremors: Shaking can mess with your ability to
carry out precise movements and detail-oriented tasks, like needle threading
and tweezing your eyebrows. Which you really don't want to mess up.
21. Premature aging: When you don't get enough
sleep, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. If your body releases
too much cortisol, it starts to break down collagen, a protein that promotes
smooth skin and elasticity. Sleep deprivation also may decrease the production
of the growth hormones in your body that strengthen the skin and fend off
wrinkles, says Dr. David Bank, dermatologist and director of The Center for
Dermatology, Cosmetic, and Laser Surgery in Mount Kisco, NY, and author
of Beautiful Skin – Every Woman's Guide to Looking Her Best at Any Age.
Skimp on sleep and you'll lose the restorative effects that make your skin look
young and healthy.
22. Dry skin: Sleep helps hydrate your skin
so it doesn't get all dry and flaky. In other words, adequate sleep is like
a natural moisturizer.
23. Big-time breakouts: When you don't get
enough sleep, your stress levels soar and your body responds by producing more
of the hormone glucocorticoid. This disrupts your skin structure, which makes
you more vulnerable to acne. Lack of sleep also triggers inflammation, which
can makes small blemishes blow up.
24. Dull skin: Sleep improves blood flow to
the skin, Dr. Bank says. Don't get enough sleep, and your skin will look
blotchy or pale.
25. Skin sensitivity: Your body's immune
system builds its strength while you sleep, Dr. Bank explains. Sleep
deprivation can make your skin more sensitive and even worsen existing skin
conditions like rosacea or eczema.
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