How Sleep Deprivation Can Affect Your Overall Health and Wellness

Jag Sunderram, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Medical Director MICU and Comprehensive Sleep Disorders Center Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

40% of Americans get less than seven hours of sleep a night, which is far less than the recommended rest they require. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends that teenagers (ages 14-17) get eight-ten hours of sleep, adults (ages 18-64) get seven-nine hours and older adults (65+) get seven-eight hours. April 23- April 29, 2017 marks Sleep Awareness Week. NSF has identified this year’s theme as Sleep Better. Feel Better. Which highlights the critical role that sleep plays in our overall health and wellness. It is important to understand that getting less than the recommended amount of sleep can not only influence your appearance and energy levels, but also has significant impact on your physical and psychological health, including the ability to learn new information, lose weight and an increased risk of both chronic and mental illnesses.

In recognition of Sleep Awareness week, I detail the many ways that lack of sleep can impact your health and wellbeing mentally, emotionally and physically.

Mental Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation has tremendous negative effects on your brain health. It impacts your cognitive process, slowing it down and affecting your ability to reason and make decisions quickly. It can also impact your motor skills, making physical tasks more challenging and diminish your coordination, making you clumsier and potentially more accident prone. When you are sleep deprived, your brain’s ability to process information is inhibited and it becomes harder to form accurate memories and learn new things. Staying awake for just 16 hours will result in a delayed decision making time and missing one night of sleep makes you as impaired as someone who is legally intoxicated.

Emotional Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Individuals who lack sleep tend to be more impulsive, moody and all around more emotional. While you may act and feel more emotional, when sleep deprived, your brain has a harder time detecting emotions and reactions from others. Long-term consequences of sleep deprivation associated with emotional health include putting yourself at a higher risk for depression, anxiety, and mood disorders, increasing your risk of developing dementia by 33 percent and ultimately aging your brain by three-five years.

Physical Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Physically your health is in danger and your immune system suffers when your body is deprived of sleep. While you sleep, your body creates white blood cells to attack viruses and bacteria, so when sleep deprived, you are three times more likely to catch a cold. More seriously, when you get less than five hours of sleep, your risk for obesity increases by 50 percent. Your body needs sleep to regulate hormone levels and without an adequate amount, the hormone that controls appetite will decrease, your metabolism will slow down, and you end up craving sweeter, saltier, and all around fattier foods. Similarly, sleep deprivation puts individuals three times more at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, at a 36 percent increase in risk for colorectal cancer and at a 48 percent increase in risk for developing heart disease.

Sleep deprivation is much more serious than feeling fatigued and getting dark circles under your eyes. Your ability to function and feel both physically and mentally well while you’re awake depends on whether you are getting enough sleep at night. Depriving your body from adequate sleep puts you at risk for mood disorders and dementia, obesity and heart disease, and more prone to accidents There is simply no alternative to a good night’s sleep. Your body and brain requires 7-8 hours of sleep at night to repair, refresh and restore. Adequate sleep is a top health priority and shouldn’t just be an indulgence, it’s a necessity.

Sleep deficiency interferes with your physical, mental, and psychological health as well as the safety of you and others. If you struggle with sleep deprivation, contact the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Comprehensive Sleep Center at 888-SFL-REST or 888-735-7378. Not sure if you struggle with sleep deprivation? Take this brief interactive sleep assessment. http://www.rwjuh.edu/sleepcenter/epworth-sleepiness-scale1.aspx.

Located in Hillsborough, New Jersey, the RWJUH Comprehensive Sleep Center is committed to helping patients understand and manage their sleep disorders. Our comprehensive approach to care uses the latest technology, equipment and techniques to centralize each stage on the road to recovery – from diagnosis to selecting treatment to follow up and reassessment. We treat a variety of sleep disorders in both adults and children, including sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy. For more information on the RWJUH Comprehensive Sleep Center, the effects of sleep deprivation and other sleep disorders, visit http://www.rwjuh.edu/sleepcenter/sleep-center-home.aspx.