It is really tempting some days to burn the midnight oil, whether that is for school or to catch up with friends, but is all this business really good for you?
Sleep deprivation brings with it many mental health effects. Short-term and long-term memory can be negatively affected by it, and it can even diminish your brain function. Cognitive Dysfunction sets in early, as well as moodiness. In fact, it is said that driving a car without sleep is just as dangerous driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Healthline.com says that longer one goes without sleep, the more chance they will suffer from depression, paranoia, and hallucinations.
However, lack of sleep can cause affect more than just the mind. According to the division of sleep medicine of the Harvard medical school web page, people that get fewer than six hours of sleep per night can suffer from many chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. It can also impact immune function, making the body more susceptible to other diseases as well. Even risk of mortality itself is increased.
“Considering the many potential adverse health effects of insufficient sleep, it is not surprising that poor sleep is associated with lower life expectancy. Data from three large cross-sectional epidemiological studies reveal that sleeping five hours or less per night increased mortality risk from all causes by roughly 15 percent.”
Though many of these causes stem from prolonged periods of sleep deprivation, or habitually sleeping little, just one all-nighter can have long lasting impacts. G. Clay Whittaker, writer for Popular Science reported that one sleepless night could permanently affect your genes, specifically “clock” genes which help to regulate the on-off function of metabolic processes. These can lead to severe, permanent issues like obesity and diabetes.
“[Researchers] found extreme changes in the genes of the deprived subject’s metabolism--specifically, they found impaired glucose tolerance,” Whittaker said.
The next time you have a test coming up, make sure to hit the sack on time and get plenty of sleep, or you could regret it.
