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10 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep

2008-10-21 09:24:06

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.