Sleeping too few hours can cause moodiness, drowsiness and failure in everyday tasks at work, home or school.
A healthy amount of sleep varies from person to person, but there is a range that should not be exceeded, which is between 7 and 9 hours of deep sleep. However, many people sleep 6 hours or less due to their multiple occupations without being aware of the negative effects of sleeping badly.
According to a study by the University of Texas, after 7 nights of poor sleep, we begin to suffer genetic alterations that could lead to heart problems, obesity, skin damage and neurological damage.
- Memory loss. When we do not sleep well, we forget things, we do not have good concentration, this happens because interrupted sleep is associated with the accumulation of amyloid plaques, a characteristic sign of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the University of Washington School of Medicine.
- Loss of neurons. The Perelman Center for Sleep and Neurobiology finds that prolonged wakefulness is linked to the loss of neurons essential for learning. Human research shows that attention span and other aspects of learning do not normalize, even after several days of good sleep.
- Damage to the cerebral cortex. For its part, the University of Uppsala, Sweden, reveals that just one night of sleep deprivation can cause loss of brain tissue, as demonstrated by the high concentrations of brain molecules found in the blood of 15 volunteers who remained awake for 24 hours.
- Causes depression. Lack of sleep affects the brain’s emotional responses and hinders your ability to cope with stress. The Columbia University Medical Center study of young adults estimates that those who sleep less than five hours have a 71% higher risk of depression.
- Heart damage. People who have irregular sleep over a five-year period have up to twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States.
- It impacts the skin. Lack of sleep increases cortisol levels, a hormone that aggravates inflammatory conditions: acne, dermatitis and other dermatological disorders.
Too little sleep increases the accumulation of oxidative stress at the cellular level, leading to poor lymphatic drainage and fluid accumulation that is reflected in puffy eyes or the appearance of dark circles under the eyes.
Remember that getting a good night’s sleep is part of good physical and mental health.
Try to have a routine before bed where you can relax: do some yoga, get a massage and use essential oils or your favorite cream and ‘disconnect’ from everything digital.
If you experience muscle aches or similar discomfort, consider taking a product designed to combat pain and discomfort at night.
If you have been sleepless for more than two weeks, the ideal is to see a specialist in sleep disorders to determine how to combat your discomfort.
