Yes, it is! The statistics may shock you, almost 1 in 3 adults all over the globe are struggling to get enough sleep. In the UK, more than 35% of adults have less than 7 hours of sleep every day. All the studies show that sleep deprivation isn’t just a real thing but it is a serious problem with the modern generation and we should focus on curing it. This article is going to provide information about sleep deprivation and methods to cure it. 

What is sleep deprivation?

Sleep is very important as it is a universal experience for all of us. It is a basic requirement for our general health and survival.  The positive effects of good sleep can be seen in our daily activities such as alertness, paying attention, the ability to think clearly, and many more. It is also important for our emotional and mental behavior. 

Talking about the impact of poor sleep significantly affects our mental and physical well-being. 

Sleep deprivation makes your performance decline, causes sleepiness, and negatively impacts your physical as well as psychological functions. These functions may include your learning ability, memory, immunity, and metabolism. 

Whether it is partial or total sleep deprivation, it is a serious concern here in the UK. The major reasons can be both acute or chronic sleep loss and can lead to major daytime impairment. Our everyday activities involve regulatory and metabolic processes which directly depend on the quality and duration of our sleep. 

Side-effects of sleep deprivation

Let’s discuss some of the major side effects of sleep deprivation one by one.

Hypertension

Hypertension is caused when you are getting sleep deprived, let's say less than 5 to 6 hours every night. Stress is caused due to regulation of some specific hormones in our body and sleep is such a magical medicine that helps our body to properly regulate these hormones. Less than 5 to 6 hours of sleep can’t completely help with hormonal regulations which allows the stress to amplify side-effects on our body. As the habit of getting less sleep continues, the stress puts unnecessary strain on our heart resulting in blood pressure increase and heart inflammation. 

Heart Attack & Stroke

Deficiency of sleep often increases the chances of getting higher cardiovascular issues. Some of the most common cardiovascular problems caused by sleep deprivation are heart attacks and heart strokes. The reason behind this is very simple and clear, sleep allows certain parts of our brain that control the circulatory system to reduce the inflammation that makes the development of blood clots more likely. In short, if you are getting less sleep you are increasing the chances of cardiovascular problems. 

Weight Gain & Obesity

Are they wondering why they are gaining weight so fast? Sleep deprivation might be a huge reason for putting on weight so quickly. Without getting into deep scientific terms let's discuss this in easy words. Sleep deprivation results in producing a higher amount of cortisol which is a stress hormone. You might be thinking about how it can lead to weight gain. Cortisol increases stress, frustration, and anxiety which eventually leads to increased bad nutritional habits. Are you also a victim of emotional eating? 

Sleep deprivation also increases another hormone called ghrelin in our stomach. This hormone makes us feel more hungry and we tend to eat unnecessary meals. 

Diabetes

It is scientifically proven that lack of proper sleep badly affects our body’s capacity for glucose processing. Glucose is used by our cells as a fuel and lack of sleep interferes with this natural process which results in an increased amount of insulin in our body. There is no doubt that sleep deprivation increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Where is the cure? The best thing that we can do is to start getting enough sleep every night. This should be our priority before getting on to any medications. 

Depression & Anxiety

You will agree with us on this, if we aren’t getting enough sleep we feel irritated the next day. When the habit of getting less sleep continues it may lead to clinical depression resulting in feeling less motivated towards anything. Proper sleep is the key to cure any of the problems we have discussed in this article. It is very common for patients with depression to have a very bad sleeping cycle. There is a common hormone called melatonin that regulates our mood and sleep cycle. Whether a patient suffering from insomnia or a patient having depression, lower levels of melatonin in their body are found in everyone. 

Conclusion

Now that we understand the importance of sleep for our overall mental and physical health. Sleep not only keeps our mind and memory sharp but it also keeps our emotional and physical health in a healthy state. Stay tuned with us for sleep-related problems and their solutions. We bring many informative pieces to improve your life here.