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Lack of sleep is a severe health issue that needs attention. Failing to get enough sleep, especially during the night, can be detrimental to your health. You might have slept sleepless nights tossing and turning, and you might be aware of how agonizing this experience is. Our body needs sleep just as it needs food to function at its best. During sleep, our body heals itself and maintains its chemical balance.
What is Sleep Deprivation?
Various reasons may cause sleep deprivation. In simple words sleep, deprivation occurs when you get less than 7 hours of sleep during the day. This can lead to several health consequences that affect your entire body.
Lack of sleep can drastically affect your quality of life. Lack of sleep drains your mental abilities, disrupts your mood, and puts your physical health at risk. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body won’t function properly.
Hence, it is essential to pay significant importance to improving sleep quality. In this article, we will share a few side effects of sleep deprivation on your health.
So, keep on reading this guide to understand the importance of getting enough sleep.
Here are a few side effects of sleep deprivation on your health
1. You Experience Memory Issues
Lack of sleep drastically affects your mental abilities. It makes you forget things early. That’s because when you are sleeping, your brain forms connections that help you remember and process new information. Failing to get enough sleep drastically impacts your short and long-term memory.
Also, you experience trouble with thinking and concentration due to a lack of sleep. Your creativity, problem-solving skills, and thinking capabilities aren't up to par when you don't get enough sleep.
2. Makes You Easily Vulnerable to Diseases
Lack of sleep adversely affects your hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness. It also triggers the release of insulin. Furthermore, failing to get enough sleep leads to increased fat storage, changes in body weight, and increases the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.
3. Lack of Sleep Causes Depression
Lack of sleep triggers the symptoms of depression. People who sleep five hours or less are much more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder, and it is strongly linked to depression. In fact, insomnia is amongst the most common symptoms of depression.
We can say that insomnia and depression feed on each other. Lack of sleep aggravates symptoms of depression which makes it difficult for you to sleep at night. So, this cycle continues until you succeed in resolving one of these complications.
4. Weakens Your Immune System
Lack of sleep weakens the immune system's defenses against viruses. When your defense system gets weak, you become vulnerable to catching a common cold and flu. Hence, you are much more likely to get sick when exposed to these viruses.
5. Lack of Sleep Kills Your Sex Drive
Studies suggest that failing to get enough sleep kills your sex drive. Men and women who do not get enough sleep report lower libidos and show less interest in sex. That's because of the depleted energy, sleepiness, and enhanced mental burden. All these factors add up to kill your sexual urge.
In addition to that, several studies suggest that men with sleep apnea have lower testosterone levels. Reports claim that men suffering from sleep apnea secreted abnormally low levels of testosterone during the night.
6. Lack of Sleep Leads to Weight Gain
If you fail to lose weight despite doing everything correctly, you might want to consider improving your sleep quality. Lack of sleep is strongly linked to an increased appetite and possibly obesity. Studies suggest that individuals who sleep less than five to six hours a day are more likely to experience obesity than those who sleep for 7 to 9 hours.
Furthermore, sleep deprivation not only stimulates appetite but also stimulates cravings for high-fat and high carbohydrate foods. So, getting enough sleep is vital to be necessarily included in the weight loss schedule.
7. Lack of Sleep Leads to Cardiovascular Complications
Lack of sleep often leads to heart complications. Failing to get enough sleep leads to increased blood pressure and higher chemicals linked to inflammation. Both of these factors add up to increase the risk of developing heart diseases.
Getting enough sleep is essential for improving the health of your heart because it helps the heart vessels to heal and rebuild. It also improves the processes that maintain blood pressure, sugar levels, and inflammation control. So, a lack of sleep significantly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Concluding Remarks
In short, lack of sleep is harmful to your overall health. It can alter your mental capabilities, disrupt your physical health and increase the risk of developing diseases. A persistent lack of sleep leads to several health complications and might indicate an underlying health problem such as anxiety or sleep apnea.
