10 Scariest Side Effects of Sleeplessness

We have all felt the sting of a poor night’s sleep. With endlessly busy lives full of forty hour work weeks, carpools, dentist appointments, school, family, friends, and so much more, it is nearly impossible to avoid late nights and early mornings. But there is no doubt that prolonged sleeplessness can have some very serious and very negative effects on our bodies and our minds. More and more often, individuals with chronic sleeplessness are turning to prescription sleep medications for aid. Prescription sleeping pills have increased in sale by over 60 percent in the last decade according to a 2006 New York Times article. With pharmacists filling more prescriptions for sleep aid and more and more individuals complaining of sleeplessness, concerns about the health risks of both sleeping pills and sleeplessness have elevated drastically. The following lists the 10 most severe and dangerous side effects sleeplessness can have:

1. Death: While sleeplessness has not been proven to actually cause death, there are several factors involved with insomnia and poor sleeping habits that may. Those who suffer from sleeplessness are significantly more likely to turn to alcohol abuse and substance abuse. Moreover, individuals who regularly get little to no sleep are far more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. With the combination of alcohol and controlled substances and depression, insomnia can have some very dire consequences. Generally, experts believe that the body would merely shut down and sleep, before an individual would actually die from not sleeping. However, there has been very little research actually performed around this hypothesis because the experiment is just too dangerous.
2. Psychosis: One of the most troublesome side effects of severe sleep deprivation is psychosis. When an individual suffers from psychosis they are often described as having a complete break from reality. They may experience personality changes or hallucinations. When associated with sleep deprivation, psychosis is usually only temporary, but it can lead to some very serious issues. Accompanied by psychosis an individual may experience severe depression and anxiety as well. These conditions drastically impair an individual’s ability to perform everyday tasks and worsen an individual’s quality of life.
3. Obesity: It is no secret that obesity rates throughout America have escalated into a huge problem in recent years. Many health experts are calling the current obesity trend throughout the country an epidemic. Several studies preformed over that past decade have shown that individuals who sleep less are more likely to overeat and, therefore, more likely to become obese. Furthermore, stress and depression (two side effects of sleeplessness) have been shown to contribute to an individual’s weight gain. Obesity is a very dangerous condition. Experts have calculated that obesity is not only more expensive for both the country and an individual than smoking cigarettes, but is also more deadly than smoking cigarettes. While (of course) one night of not sleeping will not make you obese, a constant lifestyle of sleeping too little may.
4. Type 2 Diabetes: Numerous studies have shown that a person suffering from sleep deprivation is much more susceptible to developing Type 2 Diabetes than a person who gets an adequate amount of sleep each night. It is important to note, however, that this result is only associated with chronic insomnia, not just poor sleeping habits. Type 2 Diabetes is a very serious condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is associated with several other debilitating conditions as well, including hypertension, high cholesterol, blindness, kidney failure, obesity, and many more.
5. Suppressed Immune System: Lack of sleep affects almost all aspects of our physiological and psychological health. Sleeplessness has a negative effect on our body’s ability to heal itself. In other words, insomnia and frequent sleepless nights may lead to a decrease in your immune system’s ability to function properly. A weakened immune system (as one might imagine) can lead to several very serious complications. For example, in the study linked to above, individuals who received less than seven hours of sleep a night were almost three times more likely to develop the common cold than those who received eight or more hours of sleep. Even more worrisome, a weakened immune system can lead to chronic disease and severe infections. Several studies have put forth data that suggests a link between the production of disease-fighting cells (white blood cells) and adequate sleep.
6. Memory Loss: Another serious side effect insomnia can have is memory loss. It is widely known that sleep is the time during which our brains process all the information that we have gathered during the day. It is during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep that our brain processes this information and stores it as memory. Individuals who do not get an adequate amount of sleep at night will not enter the REM stages of sleep as often and, therefore, will not be capable of storing as many memories. Memory loss can affect several different aspects of an individual’s life, including their personal relationships as well as their ability to think and learn. While it is known that sleep deprivation has negative cognitive consequences, the mechanisms by which sleep deprivation affects brain function remains fairly unknown to scientists.
7. Loss of Self Control: One of the more serious side effects of sleeplessness is the effects that it can have on natural hormone levels in the body. Scientists have observed that lack of sleep can suppress certain growth hormones that are naturally produced in the body. These growth hormones help promote a balanced reaction to stressors of the immune system, sex drive, and mood. This means that individuals suffering from sleeplessness may feel that they are losing self control. Researchers have observed low levels of melatonin in individuals suffering from insomnia, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle in humans by chemically causing drowsiness. Also, many studies have noticed a correlation between sleeplessness and elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
8. Decreased Concentration: We can probably agree that trying to concentrate after getting a poor night’s sleep can be extremely difficult. Everyday endless numbers of people both young and old stumble out of bed and consume outrageous amounts of caffeine in order to stay awake and alert throughout the day. While decreased concentration is one of the tamer side effects of sleep deprivation, it can have some very dire consequences. Poor concentration due to lack of sleep can (and has) led to several automobile accidents. Every year, it is estimated that there are more than 50,000 adolescents who are involved in car accidents caused by lack of sleep. However, because sleep deprivation cannot be measured posthumously, it is impossible to determine whether it is a factor in accidents when the driver does not survive.
9. Pain: While it isn’t all that difficult to believe that chronic pain may cause someone to have trouble sleeping, many researchers believe that lack of sleep may actually cause pain. It is widely known that individuals who suffer from sleeplessness have an increased likelihood of also suffering from severe migraines. A well-known study within the field performed in 1869, indicated that adequate sleep protects individuals from migraine attacks. According to this study, 29 percent of the participants’ migraines were actually caused by insomnia. It is also widely believed (although the science behind it is a bit uncertain) that lack of sleep causes increased pain in trigger points in the muscles.
10. Dizziness and Nausea: As two of the more well known side effects of sleeplessness, dizziness and nausea are not the scariest consequences poor sleep can have, but they are the most common. These side effects are tangible even after only two consistent nights without much rest. While nausea and dizziness are not necessarily dangerous in themselves, they can lead to some very serious hazards throughout the day. An individual experiencing both nausea and dizziness will have more trouble focusing on the task they have at hand. Moreover, dizziness can severely impair an individual’s ability to operate a vehicle safely, making them a danger to both themselves and others.

(source:.uspharmd.com)

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