Can Lack of Sleep Actually Kill You?

Just One or Two Sleepless Nights 
Short-Term Sleep Deprivation

An all-night party, studying until dawn before an important exam, staying up all night to finish that riveting book or to take care of a colicky baby – we all have done it at some point in time and seemingly it was not a big deal. But what really happens to our body, when we miss one night of sleep?

Cognitive Impairment - To compensate for the lack of sleep, your brain releases more dopamine, the “feel-good hormone”, so at first you do not feel tired. On the contrary, you might even feel energized, motivated and even frisky, as your sex drive is also likely to increase. However, the dopamine effect is short lived and soon you begin feeling tired and sleepy. Moreover, your planning and decision-making skills significantly deteriorate and your behavior becomes more impulsive. Driving, after a sleepless night, is definitely not a good idea, because your reaction time is much slower. In fact, it can even be compared to the state of impairment that a person with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 (i.e. legally drunk) would present. After three days without sleep, you might start to experience minor hallucinations and memory lapses. At this point, performing some tasks, like driving a car, carries very serious health and safety risks for you and other people. According to the American Sleep Association, drowsy driving is responsible for 1,550 fatalities and 40,000 nonfatal injuries annually, in the United States alone.

Overeating - Going without sleep for more than 24 hours increases and multiplies adverse effects. Your metabolism gradually slows down to the point, where your body is no longer able to break down any glucose. Simultaneously, your appetite increases, you crave snacks and, as the result, you tend to overeat.

Weakened Immune System - Your immune system temporarily shuts down, so you are more prone to illnesses and infections.
Wrinkles. When you do not get your beauty sleep, your body produces more cortisol than usual. Cortisol, “the stress hormone” inhibits collagen formation, which impacts the vitality of skin cells and makes any wrinkles or fine lines more visible.

Decreased Sex Drive - When you are tired, your sex drive decreases significantly or becomes nonexistent due to a decrease in the production of testosterone, the hormone responsible for sex drive in men and women. Research conducted in a group of 171 women, suffering from sleep deficiency, indicated that an additional hour of sleep may increase sexual activity by 14%. The results were published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Sleepless in Seattle
Long-term Sleep Deprivation

The effects of one or two sleepless nights are definitely worrying, but stealing an hour or two of sleep, a few times a week, does not sound so bad. Or does it? In reality, the long-time cumulative sleep deprivation carries very serious health risks that affect the whole body. Sleep is increasingly recognized as important to public health, with sleep insufficiency linked to motor vehicle crashes, industrial disasters, and medical and other occupational errors. The problem is becoming very worrying when we realize how many people are affected by it. In the United States alone, an estimated 50-70 million US adults suffer from a sleep disorder.

Impaired Nervous System - The nervous system is the first part of the body affected by the lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation seriously impairs cognitive abilities, so two or three extra hours spent studying or working at night, will not be very productive. Additionally, you may suffer from mood swings, irritability and an overall deterioration of emotional health. After a prolonged sleep deficiency, you might start experiencing episodes of micro-sleep, i.e. brief, unintended episodes of loss of attention, including falling asleep. According to the American Sleep Association, over 37% of people in the United States reported unintentionally falling asleep during the day at least once, in the month preceding the study and close to 5% reported nodding off or falling asleep while driving.

Obesity - Sleeping is vital to maintaining a healthy weight. Lack of sleep is an obesity risk factor. When you are not getting enough sleep, your metabolism slows down, your body produces more insulin than is required to regulate the metabolism. As the result, it becomes much harder to control your appetite.

Diabetes - The weight gain and overproduction of insulin, resulting from the lack of sleep, might in turn lead to type 2 diabetes. By avoiding sleep, you are increasing the risk of developing the illness by up to 2.5 times.

Weakened Immune System - If you seem to catch colds every other week or it takes you a long time to recover from an illnesses and your sleeping habits fall on the short side, it is time to connect the dots. Most likely, your immune system is telling you that it needs more rest. When you are asleep, your body produces white cells that in turn produce antibodies – the body’s natural defense mechanism against infections. By avoiding rest, you essentially rob your immune system of the capability to do its job, i.e. to protect you from illness.

Heart Disease - Obesity also increases the risk of getting heart disease by up to 45%. Additionally, sleep deprivation causes heart palpitations and increases blood pressure, which may result in a stroke.