Everyone knows that sleep is important. We all know the tired, gritty feeling of not getting enough of it. The feeling that you can barely keep your eyes open, that your mind is in a fog—that is sleep deprivation in a nutshell. Experts have warned that America is facing a sleep crisis, with far too many of us missing out on sleep. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that one-third of adults fail to get the recommended seven hours of sleep.
Missing sleep can have serious consequences for our health. Sleep deprivation can increase anxiety, and even modest reductions in sleep have been linked to increased feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Disordered sleep has long been recognized as a symptom of various neurological and psychiatric disorders. New research suggests that even a single night of sleep deprivation can increase the brain levels of the proteins that form toxic tangles in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Research has found sleep plays a key role in memory formation.
Missing sleep can also make people more prone to becoming sick. Research has shown that people who aren’t getting enough sleep are more likely to become ill, and take longer to recover from illnesses than people who are getting adequate amounts of sleep. Your immune system releases cytokines, a type of protein, during sleep. Your body needs more cytokines when you have an infection, are under stress, or are suffering from inflammation. It is believed that sleep deprivation may decrease your body’s production of beneficial cytokines. In addition, your levels of disease-fighting cells producing antibodies are reduced when you don’t get enough sleep.
Basically, do your mind–and your body–a favor. Make sure that you are getting the recommended amount of sleep every night, and talk with your doctor if you have regular bouts of insomnia or other medical issues that prevent you from getting enough good-quality sleep at night. Avoiding excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages and caffeine for several hours prior to bedtime, performing regular exercise earlier during the day, and maintaining a regular routine may help improve the quality of your sleep.
