The Consequences of Not Getting Enough Sleep

Studies show that the average human being sleeps a third of his or her whole life. And since we had quite the headstart when we were born into this world, sleeping every in two-or three-hour intervals, we figure that it’s okay to lag behind in terms of sleep when we reach adulthood. Little did we know that when we reach adulthood, we’d have so many bills to pay and responsibilities to handle that sleep becomes a luxury many of us cannot afford. It would have been all right if sleep deprivation did not come with negative effects; unfortunately, it does. Here are some of the consequences you might encounter if you are depriving yourself of sleep.

Obesity is one of the leading negative consequences of sleep deprivation. If you’re having difficulty sleeping, chances are you will be raiding your fridge more and more. And when this happens, this happens more often in the form of late night binges. But what you really need to understand here is that when you don’t get enough sleep, then there’s an imbalance of the hormones that affect your appetite. This happens even after just one sleepless night in Seattle.

There’s the good hormone that we call leptin. When you lack sleep, leptin levels go down. This is actually good news because leptin controls your appetite. But then, the levels of the bad hormone known as ghrelin also go up. Ghrelin is actually a hormone that is produced by fat cells, and it signals your body that it is in need of more fat calories. So when ghrelin levels shoot up, you just can’t help but want to eat. And the more you deprive yourself of sleep, the higher the imbalance of these hormones.

Heart disease is also a negative consequence of sleep deprivation. When you don’t get enough sleep, the daily tasks you deal with actually become heavier and more stressful. When the body gets higher levels of stress hormones, it’s just a matter of time before the heart finally gives out. Stress hormones do a lot of damage to the blood vessels, which leads to hypertension or high blood pressure, which inevitably leads to heart disease.

Diabetes is also linked with sleep deprivation. Just as obesity is linked with lack of sleep, diabetes is a likely consequence of obesity. When the human body is deprived of sleep, its ability to handle its glucose load is significantly impaired. When this happens and you introduce the hormonal imbalance of leptin and ghrelin, diabetes is just a few steps away from obesity. You can also read Why do humans sleep?

Other than health risks, there’s also degradation of neurological functions linked with sleep deprivation. Students who do not get the recommended amount of sleep often do worse on their exams. Employees also become more irritable and get easily annoyed with their colleagues. Lapses of attention are inevitable, as well as delayed reaction times. And when you’re driving on the road, sleep deprivation can be lethal, fatal even.

The best remedy to getting enough sleep is to go to bed. Be firm in your resolve to get enough sleep and do everything that you can to fulfill just that.