How can sleep deprivation harm your health?
If someone is unable to get the rest that they need, they struggle to function at full capacity, feeling groggy, tired, irritable, uncoordinated or unwell. They may have trouble concentrating or may experience delayed reflexes and muddled memory.
Because sleep deprivation impairs reaction time and responsiveness, it can greatly raise the risk of accidents and injuries. In a study of sleep deprivation in medical residents, who often have highly erratic sleep schedules, cognitive levels in sleep-deprived subjects were comparable to those of people with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. To put that into perspective, in the U.S., a driver is considered to be "ability impaired" if their BAC is between .05 and .07%. When people are sleep-deprived, they may also nod off for brief periods, called "microsleeps," which can be dangerous if they're operating a vehicle, for instance.
Chronic sleep deprivation can cause what's known as a "sleep debt." In the long-term, sleep deprivation carries severe health consequences, affecting the brain as well as various systems in the body, including the cardiovascular, endocrine (hormonal), immune, and nervous systems. Sleep deprivation can worsen existing medical conditions and increase the risk of stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Insufficient sleep can also make people feel hungrier by reducing the production of appetite-suppressing signals while boosting levels of hunger-fueling signals in the body, which may contribute to weight gain in some cases. People who are sleep-deprived are more likely to experience anxiety and depression — that said, both disorders can also cause sleep problems, so the association can go both ways.
