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By Sarah Baldauf Sarah Baldauf Thu Oct 16, 5:15 pm ET
You may literally have to add it to your to-do list, but scheduling a good
night's sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. It's not
just daytime drowsiness you risk when shortchanging yourself on your seven to
eight hours. Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep
can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In
addition to letting life get in the way of good sleep, between 50 and 70
million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder--insomnia or sleep
apnea, say--that affects daily functioning and impinges on health. Consider the
research:
1) Less may mean more. For people who sleep under seven hours a night, the
fewer zzzz's they get, the more obese they tend to be, according to a 2006
Institute of Medicine report. This may relate to the discovery that
insufficient sleep appears to tip hunger hormones out of whack. Leptin, which
suppresses appetite, is lowered; ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, gets a
boost.
2) You're more apt to make bad food choices. A study published this week in the
Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that people with obstructive sleep
apnea or other severely disordered breathing while asleep ate a diet higher in
cholesterol, protein, total fat, and total saturated fat. Women were especially
affected.
3) Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, its precursor, may become more
likely. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that
people getting five or fewer hours of sleep each night were 2.5 times more
likely to be diabetic, while those with six hours or fewer were 1.7 times more
likely.
4) The ticker is put at risk. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45
percent more likely in women who slept for five or fewer hours per night than
in those who got more.
5) Blood pressure may increase. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, has been
associated with chronically elevated daytime blood pressure, and the more
severe the disorder, the more significant the hypertension, suggests the 2006
IOM report. Obesity plays a role in both disorders, so losing weight can ease
associated health risks.
6) Auto accidents rise. As stated in a 2007 report in the New England Journal
of Medicine, nearly 20 percent of serious car crash injuries involve a sleepy
driver--and that's independent of alcohol use.
7) Balance is off. Older folks who have trouble getting to sleep, who wake up
at night, or are drowsy during the day could be 2 to 4.5 times more likely to
sustain a fall, found a 2007 study in the Journal of Gerontology.
8) You may be more prone to depression. Adults who chronically operate on fumes
report more mental distress, depression, and alcohol use. Adolescents suffer,
too: One survey of high school students found similarly high rates of these
issues. Middle schoolers, too, report more symptoms of depression and lower
self-esteem.
9) Kids may suffer more behavior problems. Research from an April issue of the
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children who are
plagued by insomnia, short duration of sleeping, or disordered breathing with
obesity, for example, are more likely to have behavioral issues like attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder.
10) Death's doorstep may be nearer. Those who get five hours or less per night
have approximately 15 percent greater risk of dying--regardless of the
cause--according to three large population-based studies published in the
journals Sleep and the Archives of General Psychiatry.