Not getting enough rest?
What happens to your body when you are sleep deprived
Published:Wednesday | January 8, 2025 | 12:05 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
SLEEP IS essential for your health as it refreshes the mind and repairs the body.
Lack of sleep can cause fatigue, poor memory and concentration, mood disturbances, impaired judgement and reaction time, and poor physical coordination. It can also put you at more risk of accidents and injury.
Long-term lack of sleep can be associated with increased risk of diabetes and obesity.
Common causes of sleep deprivation are parenthood, shiftwork, travel across time zones, illness, poor sleeping habits, some medications and late-night usage of the television, the Internet and social media.
According to Dr Orlando Thomas, medical doctor and functional medicine practitioner at Thomas Medical and Shockwave Centre in Old Harbour, when you lose one hour of sleep, it increases your risk of heart attack by 24 per cent.
“Lack of sleep can change your mood; lack of sleep can kill you,” Dr Thomas said.
“Every year there is a mass experiment brought upon the population in certain countries. Over 1.5 billion people every year is subjected to this experiment. It is called ‘daylight savings time’. The day after daylight savings time in the spring, when you lose one hour of sleep, rates of heart attack increase by 24 per cent. In October when you gain one hour, the rate of heart attack decreased by 21 per cent,” he said.
Sleep is a vital physiological process that allows the body and brain to rest, recover and perform essential functions including memory consolidation, emotional regulation, immune function and general health maintenance. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor short-term and long-term health outcomes as well as impair everyday functioning.
The amount of sleep you require varies depending on your age and individual needs. It is recommended nine to 11 hours for school age children, eight to 10 for teens; seven to nine for adults aged 18-64; and seven to eight for older adults; 65 and over. While these hours are recommended, adults who are receiving slightly more or less may still be achieving healthy and adequate sleep.
Some people can cope very well with much less and some need much more every night. We now believe that many aspects of sleep are genetically determined, with the identification of a gene that makes some people cope more easily with a lack of sleep.
There are many factors that can cause individuals to sleep at shorter intervals but it is also important to consider the quality of sleep and not just the total number of hours as poor-quality sleep can also result in sleep deprivation. Factors that impair the quality of sleep include things that wake a person up, prevent falling asleep and things that disrupt normal sleep cycling to occur.
LIFESTYLE BEHAVIOURS:
• Voluntary choices that reduce time available for sleep and having inconsistent bed and wake times
• Use of electronic devices late at night
SLEEPING ENVIRONMENT:
• An uncomfortable sleeping environment. Environmental factors such as heat or cold as well as noise can have a major impact on the quality and consistency of sleep.
Work:
• Shift work (working outside of the traditional nine-to-five day) can lead to sleep deprivation. Shift work can alter our natural circadian rhythms (our biological clock that regulates alertness and sleepiness, hunger, temperature and hormone levels).
Sleep disorders:
• Obstructive sleep apnoea: Nasal congestion or snoring, for example, individuals can stop or limit their breathing during sleep. This can cause you to wake or interrupt your normal sleep cycle.
Insomnia:
• Insomnia causes problems in initiating and maintain sleep throughout the night.
OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS:
• Chronic pain can disrupt sleep
• Mental health (e.g., anxiety and depressive disorders). These can be highly comorbid with sleep problems.
• Nocturia: Waking up multiple times during the night to get out of bed to urinate. This can disrupt normal sleep patterns.
• Diabetes: Fluctuating blood glucose levels can disrupt sleep.
• Substance abuse: Medication, alcohol, illicit substances and addiction.
Sleep is not a luxury; it is a necessity! If you snore (or suspect you do) or otherwise just cannot seem to get a good night’s sleep, make an appointment with a doctor. They may recommend a sleep study to rule out any sleep disorders and get to the root of the problems, so that you can finally start getting the beauty rest you deserve.
WHAT IS SLEEP DEPRIVATION?
• Sleep deprivation occurs when an individual fails to get the amount of sleep that they need.
• Sleep deprivation can occur due to various lifestyle, work and environmental factors. Sleep disorders and other chronic medical conditions can also cause sleep deprivation.
• Not enough sleep or disruptions to sleep can have a major impact on daytime functioning including poor concentration, reduced reaction times and altered mood. In children, sleep deprivation can affect behaviour and school performance.
• Chronic sleep deprivation can have a negative impact on brain, metabolic (e.g., overweight/obesity, diabetes) and immune health.
• Following healthy sleep recommendations, there are things that you can do to improve your sleep. If you need additional support, you should seek help from a doctor.