Exploring the dangers of sleep debt
Tired? Struggling to concentrate? Feeling lethargic? It might be sleep debt! In previous blogs, we’ve mentioned that 7-9 hours of sleep a night is best for adults. However, nearly 1/3 of people in the US get less than 6 hours of sleep a night. As we’ve learned, sleep cleans out toxins and restores hormones, so when we suffer from sleep debt, we create issues that can lead to common diseases. Let’s explore a few of these!
Type 2 Diabetes
Lack of sleep doesn’t allow the brain sufficient time to do its work, and in the case of insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar), sleep deprivation results in less insulin released after you eat. This causes high levels of sugar circulating in the bloodstream. Additionally, sleep deprivation causes our body to release stress hormones such as cortisol which might help you stay awake, but reduces your ability to process sugar. These increase your risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but it can also cause you to lose even more sleep. It’s a circular nightmare!
Cardiovascular Disease
Recent studies suggest that adults who get less than 7 hours sleep per night are more likely to report heart-related problems. During normal sleep, our blood pressure lowers, giving the heart a much needed rest. High blood pressure over a period of time can increase our risk for inflammation in our blood vessels, which increases the workload on the heart. In addition, two common sleep disorders— insomnia and sleep apnea, can lead to cardiovascular disease if left untreated.
Insomnia
A common sleep disorder, insomnia, makes it hard for one to fall asleep, stay asleep or have difficulty falling back to sleep once awakened. The person with insomnia often feels tired when they awaken and has little to no energy. Insomnia can be divided into two types:
Primary insomnia means that there is no other health-related cause contributing to the sleep condition but can be related to changes in:
your stress load
changes to your schedule such as a work shift change or jet lag.
Secondary insomnia refers to trouble sleeping due to health-related conditions such as asthma, depression, pain, or substance abuse. Causes for secondary insomnia include:
mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression
medications, such as allergy meds or high blood pressure meds
pain, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol use
endocrine problems, such as hyperthyroidism, sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome
Alzheimer’s disease
Sleep Apnea
Affecting nearly 22 million Americans, sleep apnea is a condition that occurs when your airway gets blocked during sleep, causing you to stop breathing for short periods of time. Often the person suffering from sleep apnea is unaware of the condition but complains of not feeling rested after sleeping, or suffers with daytime concentration and memory problems. If left untreated, sleep apnea can be associated with medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, acid reflux, and diabetes.
Obesity
Our bodies’ sense of hunger is regulated by hormones that are directly related to our sleep patterns. When the body doesn’t get enough sleep, our stomach releases Gherlin, a hormone responsible for making us feel hungry, therefore causing us to want to eat more. During deep sleep, our body releases the hormone Leptin which is responsible for our feelings of satiation or feeling full. So, without sufficient time spent in deep sleep, our body not only releases more Gherlin making us want to eat more, but doesn’t release sufficient lepton so we know when to quit eating.
But there’s more! During REM sleep your brain uses glucose for all the processes it is doing, and your heart rate and BP increase, thereby increasing caloric output. In a nutshell, you burn up to 38 calories per hour of sleep at night!
Depression
With nearly ⅓ of adults in the US suffering from depression, it has become a public crisis, and sleep debt is often linked to depressive symptoms. The hormone serotonin is key in stabilizing our mood enabling the brain cells to communicate with the nervous system. Serotonin plays a role in your mood, your bowel control and is the hormone responsible for controlling your sleep wake cycle. Serotonin is produced during the brain during deep sleep and is most efficient in complete darkness. Lack of sleep then results in less production of serotonin and low serotonin levels are associated with depression, anxiety, suicidal behavior. When we are depressed, the hormones related to our circadian rhythms are not properly activated and insomnia often ensues, further stressing the body and often resulting in depression. This fatigue results in less physical activity, which we know helps the brain to release endorphins which help reduce depression.
Restless Leg Syndrome
Ever try to sleep and instead your body has an overwhelming urge to move? That could be RLS! The symptoms can be described as a feeling of burning or itching under the skin. People report sleeping less than 5 hours per night due to waking from these symptoms and often report having to get out of bed to walk. This loss of sleep often results in mood disturbances, and poor mental concentration.
In the end…
Although the negative repercussions of falling into sleep debt can be scary, they can often be prevented! Review our tips for good sleep hygiene from our first sleep blog post, or contact Corefit here or on Facebook.
Photo by Doğukan Şahin on Unsplash