It only takes three consecutive nights with reduced sleep for our mental and physical state to deteriorate sharply. In the longer term, the effects on the body can cause many ailments, starting in childhood.
weight gain
Why do we experience cravings after a sleepless night, when we are very tired ? Because of variations in the levels of leptin and ghrelin, the hormones of satiety, jostled by the non-respect of the circadian rhythm. The first consequence is the risk of weight gain and diabetes. And the reverse is also true : sleeping makes you lose weight. A recent study published in the journal Jama Internal Medicine showed that an obese person sleeping less than 6h50 per night can reduce their caloric intake by 10%, when accompanied to lengthen their nights. The more he sleeps, the less he eats. After two weeks, he will have lost 500 g. Observing this rate, this would represent a loss of 12 kilos in three years.
Tired heart
Sleep is a cardiac regulator : it lowers blood pressure during the night. After analyzing 6,820 responses from the American study Midus (Midlife in the United States) among adults with an average age of 53.4 years, researchers from the University of South Florida established that sleep disorders increased the risk cardiovascular up to 141%.
have diabetes
Sleeping poorly or going to bed late disrupts glycemic control upon waking. A new analysis of data from the Predict 1 study confirms that blood glucose regulation is more difficult when you are sleep deprived. The sugar level remains high in the blood, the blood sugar does not stabilize, which promotes insulin dependence. If you are tired, it is better to opt for a breakfast rich in fat rather than carbohydrates. The relationship between type 2 diabetes and chronic sleep deprivation, in the context of night work for example, is confirmed by numerous studies.
Increase your risk of cancer
Intestine, prostate, breast… We suspect a link between lack of sleep and many cancers. In cases of obstructive apnea, studies have confirmed the risk of cancer, particularly of the lung and skin. Because a tired body defends itself less well against abnormal cells, likely to trigger the disease. The number of killer cells, those that eliminate abnormal cells, actually drops when you lack sleep. Sleep debt can also make the disease worse. In the case of breast cancer, the disruption of the sleep/wake rhythm increases the dissemination of cancer cells and the formation of metastases in laboratory experiments. What to postulate that pre-menopausal women with staggered professional rhythms, over long periods, would be particularly exposed to aggressive breast cancers.
Weakening your immune system
Respecting the circadian rhythm and deep slow sleep guarantees an effective immune system, reduces the risk of autoimmune diseases, inflammation and ensures the proper functioning of the endocrine system. By a cascading effect, a weakened immune system can contribute to the occurrence of thyroid disorders (hypo or hyperthyroidism), which itself, once disrupted, will affect the quality of sleep; it is therefore a vicious circle. Short and long sleepers are the most likely to develop a thyroid disorder according to a 2019 Korean study. The importance of sleep on the immune system is confirmed from childhood. This year, a French team has thus correlated a short sleep duration in the first years of life and an increased rate of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines, molecules found in several pathologies frequent in adulthood.
Promote the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases
Lack of sleep is suspected to be a factor of neurodegeneration which can result in dementia, or a risk of Alzheimer's disease. Tau proteins, toxic and characteristic of the disease, accumulate in the regions that control sleep, which would explain why patients who suffer from it have sleep disorders. But lack of sleep would also promote the accumulation of these proteins. Research from 2013 showed that people who slept only six hours a night had higher aggregates of beta-amyloid protein, the other biomarker of Alzheimer's disease in the brain. In addition, according to epidemiological studies conducted by Inserm, sleeping six hours a night or less at the age of 50 or 60 increases the long-term risk of developing dementia. The Silver Health Study project conducted at the University of Caen explores the link between apnea, which would cause inflammatory phenomena, and the appearance of amyloid deposits in a region of the brain affected early in Alzheimer's disease. A question remains, however : what harms the brain more, lack of sleep or the fact that it is fragmented ?
Suffer from vision problems
Scientists have shown that, in animals alone, the disruption of the circadian rhythm leads to visual disturbances – in this case, in chicks that have been exposed to non-stop light. Today, researchers around the world are wondering about the increase in myopia in humans, but lack of sleep could be a risk factor. Thus, a vision disorder would appear early in the event of inadequate sleep time at the age of 2 years, according to an analysis of the French Eden study on the development of children. This risk would last until adolescence, when the eye stops developing.
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