Despite many scientific investigations, sleep is still a great mystery. What is certain, however, is that our body suffers from insufficient sleep not only in the short term but also in the long term. In the long run, lack of sleep increases your risk for these 4 diseases.
Table of Contents
Lack of sleep increases your risk of these 4 diseases
1. Hypertension
It has not yet been clearly and conclusively clarified why we sleep at all and which functions the nightly rest period with its various sleep phases exactly has. However, individual phenomena have already been well studied – including the change in our blood pressure while we sleep. Most people experience a 10 to 20 percent drop in blood pressure during the night. However, if we lack valuable hours of sleep, this increases our risk of high blood pressure . According to scientific studies, the risk is particularly high if you regularly get less than five hours of sleep. Around 21 percent of all short sleepers run the risk of suffering from hypertension .
2. Alzheimer
We all know from our own experience that the brain cannot perform at its best when there is a lack of sleep. The serious long-term damage that can occur, however, has only been known for a short time. A Swedish research team from Uppsala University found out in 2015 that men who suffer more from sleep disorders have a significantly increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia . To do this, the researchers evaluated data from male subjects between the ages of 50 and 90 that had been collected over a period of 40 years. Those who reported regular problems sleeping had a 51 percent higher riskto develop Alzheimer’s. This is probably due to deposits of the so-called tau protein , which is increasingly detectable in the blood after a single sleepless night.
3. Obesity
If you are struggling with severe obesity, this could also be due to poor sleep quality or sleep duration. Although a lack of sleep leads to a slightly increased energy turnover, this is overcompensated by a significantly increased feeling of hunger and cravings , combined with a greatly increased calorie intake. That is why, according to researchers at the University of Colorado , a reduced amount of sleep – especially five hours or less per night – leads to weight gain over the long term and, if you are already overweight, to poorer weight loss outcomes . The medical journal also reported2018 that long-term “sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes”. The good thing about it: Those who improve their sleep quality and duration find it easier to maintain a normal weight and at the same time reduce their risk of lifestyle diseases.
4. Colds
Yes, lack of sleep also makes your body more susceptible to infections, which can make you more likely to suffer from harmless colds, but also more serious infections. In a Californian study with 164 subjects, those who slept less than six hours a night for a week were about four times more likely to get the flu than those who got at least seven hours of sleep. Especially in winter, you should provide your immune system with the necessary support with sufficient sleep in order to be able to deal with infections and pathogens.
