The number of hours a person needs to sleep per day varies depending on their genetics. In general, an adult such as yourself needs six to nine hours of sleep each night to function properly. Any less than that and you’ll begin to experience some nasty problems.
The Dangers of Sleep Deprivation
Insufficient sleep brings up health problems over time. The problems don’t just show up in your brain but in your whole body. Here are some common effects of sleep deprivation on your body.
Weight gain
Lack of sleep increases the hunger hormone, ghrelin, while decreases leptin, the hormone that inhibits hunger and diminishes fat storage. What would happen when you constantly feeling hungry and your body decides it’s a good time to store fat? You gain weight, of course.
Increased blood pressure
Enough sleep balances our stress hormones. As a result, our blood pressure decreases when we sleep. When you don’t get enough sleep, your autonomic nervous system function that regulates the hormones cannot do its job. That’s why people who don’t get enough sleep at night are prone to high blood pressure.
Accidents
Ever heard of microsleep? That’s when sleepy people driving and they dozed off for a second or so. On the street, that one second can lead to accidents and fatal injuries. In fact, that’s what happening all around the globe. People who are sleep-deprived are a danger on the street. Workers who operate heavy machinery at job sites are major liabilities when they don’t get enough sleep at night.
Weaker immune system
Your body produces antibodies and cytokines while you’re sleeping. Cytokines are small proteins that act as immunomodulating agents. In short, you need adequate sleep to have a solid immune system that can fend off bacteria and viruses. In this time of the pandemic, a good immune system is paramount. You can’t afford to skip sleep.
Low growth hormone
As you may have realized by now, sleeping is a crucial time for hormone production. The growth hormone is no exception. This hormone is the one responsible for building muscle mass plus repairing cells and tissues. Although the pituitary gland produces the growth hormone throughout the day, a good night’s sleep is when the gland produces more of the growth hormone. Children and adolescents who suffer insufficient sleep may experience stunted growth as a resul
—
OK, so those are the reasons why a lack of sleep is bad for your health. We’re not trying to scare you with those facts. We’re just trying to remind you that staying up all night does a disservice to your body.
If you spend most of your time in the bed tossing and turning instead of getting actual sleep, try listening to some soothing ambient sounds. Many people enjoy calming natural sounds to lull them to sleep. You should try them out too.
