Consequences of Insufficient Sleep
If we get too little sleep at night, we usually feel the consequences immediately. But did you know how much lack of sleep damages our health?
After a night with bad or simply too little sleep, we usually feel as if we have been beaten. We find it hard to concentrate, our eyes burn and our mood is not the best. But lack of sleep has even more serious effects on our body – especially when it becomes chronic. According to a study, more than 700 genes change after a week with less than six hours of sleep per night.
The Huffington Post has compiled the results of various sleep studies – and comes up with a long list of negative changes on our organism. Even a single night with little sleep does not leave us without a trace. So the next day we are more hungry and tend to eat more (and unfortunately also calorie-rich) food. In the supermarket, the most unhealthy foods seem most tempting. If we sleep less than six hours, the risk of a traffic accident triples, because we are more inattentive at the wheel and have poorer coordination. We are also three times more susceptible to catching a cold because our immune system is weakened.
The lack of sleep also affects our appearance. Not enough that dark circles under the eyes and thick bags under the eyes betray us – our skin also ages faster. We seem less accessible to others. Exhaustion makes us forgetful and makes it more difficult to stay focused. An American study from 2007 came to the conclusion that too little sleep upsets our emotional life. The brain areas responsible for emotions showed 60 percent more activity.
Whoever suffers from chronic lack of sleep should seek help immediately. Because over a longer period of time the recovery deficit leads to considerable health risks. Whether stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity or cardiovascular diseases (high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, heart attack): the probability of developing a serious illness is increased by lack of sleep. So nights spent awake are a ticking time bomb – and should be taken seriously accordingly.