1. Putting on weight can be linked with a lack of sleep
A surprising side affect of interrupted sleep is obesity. Adults are 30 percent more likely to be overweight if they do not get enough shut eye night after night. There are a couple of reasons this happens, firstly the body has lower leptin levels and leptin tells us when we are full.
This means tired people will often overeat and over time this will increase the waist line. Another reason is because exhausted people tend to reach for sugary snacks or food that is high in carbohydrates. Craving chocolate, fast food and sweet treats is commonplace and it takes more willpower to not give in to it. Someone who is exhausted is also less likely to want to exercise and will be quite content to settle on a chair sofa whenever possible. So, to help with weight loss, getting a full night’s sleep is just as important as eating the right food and going to the gym.
2. Increased risk of heart disease
Lack of regular sleep can have a very serious affect on health, it can contribute to raised blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke. Middle-aged and older people are more at risk of this, and they are also more likely to find it hard to sleep as well.
The full reasons are not understood, but several studies have shown that broken sleep causes the blood pressure to rise which puts a lot of strain on the heart, and can cause strokes. Harvard Medical School conducted a small study where participants were required to get an extra hour of sleep each night for a total of six weeks. All of those who took part saw a drop in their blood pressure readings, and in some cases this meant the difference between needing medication and not. High blood pressure mixed with stress is a deadly combination that could induce strokes, some of which are so mild they can go undetected, but they are a serious matter.
3. A weakened immune system
If you find you are constantly catching every virus that goes around and have a lot of colds, your immunity may be compromised and fatigue can cause this. Your body is not able to fight off bugs easily and you will be frequently ill.
Often these illnesses will affect your sleep as well, as it isn't easy to relax when you are full of flu for example, and this makes the situation worse still. Mising time off work, or working while fighting off an illness can be stressful as well which compounds the sleeplessness. Dealing with your sleep issues may be the answer to many of your general health issues.
4. Sleepiness is the cause of many accidents
There are a lot of work-related incidents, some of them very serious, that have been put down to tiredness. People arrive at work and drive or operate machinery after only a short sleep, and find they can not concentrate properly and accidents occur.
These can be dangerous for the employee, for their colleagues and for the general public. Sleepiness when driving a car is just as hazardous as driving while drunk, and should never be done no matter what the reason. You have a duty to ensure you are fully rested before work if any of these situations concern you - and if that means seeking medical advice, then this should be done.
5. No libido? You could need to sleep it off!
A little-known affect of repeated sleepless nights is a drop in sex drive. This is true of both men and women. Ask any parent of young children and they will know this to be true.
When you go to bed exhausted, there is only one thing on your mind, and it isn't a night of passion! Testosterone levels drop with the lack of sleep and it takes sexual desire with it. Getting a few good nights of deep sleep might make the spark come back to your relationship.
6. Judgement is affected with the lack of sleep
It has been discovered that concentration, judgement and the ability to interpret situations are all impaired when a person is over tired. This is important to know if you need to take in a lot of information for work; you might find you are not able to do it well.
This is something that affects students at university, if they are out partying all night, or if they live in shared accommodation which is noisy, they may find studying takes a lot more effort. Tiredness means that you find processing information more difficult and you might need to read things or hear things multiple times before you grasp it.
7. Where did I leave my keys? You might find you forget things
Exhaustion can mean you forget things more often that usual. You can find yourself leaving your packed lunch in the fridge, your glasses in the car or your wallet in the other trousers.
These are annoying traits of not getting enough sleep. If you have a very important job, forgetting essential information or leaving behind pieces of equipment vital for your role can have major repercussions. If this continues, you may find yourself being reprimanded, or worse.
8. Poor skin and ageing to the face
We are all familiar with the affect tiredness has on the face. You can usually tell very quickly when someone hasn't had enough sleep; their face is puffy, their eyes are red and their skin is sallow. This is often quickly remedied with a single night of rest, but over the longer term, ageing can occur.
The stress hormone cortisol is released and damages collagen in the skin which makes your face look saggy and old. The elasticity is compromised and so is the bounciness. Marks and creases caused by your pillow may stay on your face far longer than they used to. There are also the telltale dark circles around the eyes which occur through lack of sleep. So if you want to keep your youthful good looks, you must find a way to get eight hours of rest every night.
9. Depression is linked with insomnia
People who struggle to get a full night’s sleep are five times more likely to suffer from depression, studies have found. It is sometimes difficult to tell if depression causes the sleeplessness or if the lack of sleep causes the depression, but the two are often very much linked to one another. Breaking the pattern seems to make all the difference and so this needs to be looked into.
Getting enough sleep can alter the chemical levels in the brain and so lift depression, which in turn helps the sufferer to sleep. It is a circle that needs to be stopped and there are tried and trusted ways to do this. Walks out in the fresh air before bedtime lifts the mood a little and helps induce sleep. Make sure that visual stimulation, like looking a computer or video game, is stopped long before attempting to sleep as the lights used in the screens affect the brain. Reading a book quietly in bed is helpful, along with listening to a peaceful radio station with the lights dimmed.
10. Not enough sleep can stunt growth
If a person gets fewer than seven hours of sleep over a prolonged time, the human growth hormone levels drop in the body. For children and teenagers this can cause problems with growth. There might be many reasons for lack of sleep in the young, it could be down to using the internet of computer games late into the night, it could be problems to do with their social life, school or family life, and it also could be down to their sleeping conditions.
If siblings have to share a room, one of them may be suffering and a solution should be sought. Often children talk and fidget in their sleep, or they may get up to use the bathroom or visit parents’ in the early hours. There may be something scaring a child like a fear of the dark, or noises at the window or vivid nightmares. To make sure that your children are getting the best start possible, check that these things are not keeping them awake night after night and affecting their health.
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