1. Higher risk of heart disease: Not experiencing the nightly blood pressure drop in pressure is a risk factor for heart disease. Increased heart rate, blood pressure and higher levels of certain chemicals linkedlinked with inflammation, causing heart disease and damage.2. Prone to Type 2 Diabetes: Lack of sleep triggers our stress response, leading to the release of stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, which are associated with insulin resistant, Type 2 Diabetes.
3. Higher risk of Injury: Tiredness and drowsiness, arising out of lack of sleep, impairs motor coordination, awareness, and response times, leading to injuries to self or others.
4. Decreased Libido: Sleep-deprived men and women report lower libidos and less interest in sex. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and increased tension may be largely to blame. Men with sleep apnea also have low testosterone levels.
5. Increased risk of Stroke: Lack of sleep negatively affects cardiovascular health, increasing the risk of restricted blood flow to the brain, leading to neuro-degeneration and stroke.
6. Increased risk of Breast Cancer: Late night exposure to light is linked to reduced melatonin production, which disrupts estrogen production. Increase of estrogen spikes the risk of breast cancer.
7. Increased Anxiety: Lack of sleep amplifies the brain's anticipatory reactions, raising overall anxiety levels.
8. Heightened Depression: Lack of sleep causes a decrease in neurotransmitters which regulate mood. Sleep loss often aggravates the symptoms of depression, and depression in turn can make it more difficult to fall asleep. A viscous spiraling effect.
9. Impaired Cognition: Lower nighttime and excessive daytime sleepiness impairs your memory and your cognitive ability affecting attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving.
10. Increased Obesity: Six hours or less of sleep, spurts up production of the hunger hormone ghrelin and limits leptin, which helps you balance your food intake. Too little sleep can spur some less-than-ideal food choices, including serving yourself larger portions, and a hankering for junk food.
11. Ages your Skin: Chronic sleep loss leads to the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic. Sleep loss also causes the body to release lower levels of human growth hormones.
12. Diminished Immunity: Disruption of Circadian Rhythm (Natural Time Clock) leads to poor white blood cell health, which weakens our physical stress response or immunity, making us prone to constant infections and flu.
13. Long term Memory Loss: Brain events called “sharp wave ripples” transfer learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex of the brain, where long-term memories are stored. Sharp wave ripples occur mostly during the deepest levels of sleep.
14. Increased Hypertension: Sleeping less than 6 hours a night, increases the risk of having high blood pressure, by not allowing your heart a break to slow down for a significant period of time.
15. Stressed Relationships: Disruption of a bed partner's sleep, due to a sleep disorder, may cause significant problems for the relationship (separate bedrooms, conflicts, moodiness, etc.).
16. Decreased Performance and Alertness: Sleep deprivation induces significant reductions in performance and alertness. Reducing your nighttime sleep by as little as 1 ½ hrs, for just one night, could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
17. Increased Fertility: Regular sleep disruptions can impair fertility by reducing the secretion of reproductive hormones and has been studied to be one of the main causes for lack of conception.
18. Sleep Paralysis: Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is aroused from its REM cycle, but the body remains in its immobilizing state. Sleep deprived people are more likely to have panicked episodes of sleep paralysis that are usually accompanied by hallucinations.
19. Impaired Judgment: Our ability to make sound judgments is dented, as we may not assess situations accurately and act on them wisely, leading to issues in personal as well as professional lives.
20. Weakened Bones: Studies on rodents have found a strong connection between sleep deprivation and osteoporosis.
21. Poor Quality of Life: Certain activities that require sustained attention, like enjoying movies, playing with your kids, or precious moments with your dear ones, can become difficult due sustained lack of sleep.
