What changes will happen to the body if you don't get enough sleep for a long time?

Studies have found that long-term sleep of less than 7 hours will not only affect our daily life, but also have a profound impact on our physical and mental health.

01. If you don't get enough sleep, these changes will happen immediately

The most obvious thing is that poor sleep will affect your mental state during the day the next day, which will have an adverse effect on work and study. For those who need to drive or engage in high-altitude operations, this effect may also increase the risk of personal safety.

In addition, lack of sleep the day before will also have an adverse effect on the brain's higher functions. A study from the National University of Singapore confirmed this. In this study, the researchers arranged three groups of people: a control group with normal sleep, a partial sleep deprivation group (PSD) that slept only five hours a day for seven consecutive days, and a total sleep deprivation group (TSD) that did not sleep all night.

All participants were asked to browse a set of pictures, and then browse some correct and incorrect information related to the pictures (for example, describing a red picture as blue).

The results showed that compared with the control group, participants in the TSD and PSD groups were more susceptible to false information and were more likely to choose false information when answering questions.

This study revealed that sleep deprivation, especially comprehensive sleep deprivation, can affect an individual's memory and judgment when faced with false information.

More specifically, 24 hours of sleep deprivation can produce cognitive impairment equivalent to that of an individual with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1%. It should be noted that a blood alcohol concentration of more than 0.08% is considered drunk driving.

02. Long-term lack of sleep will cause these changes to the body

Sleep is extremely important for human health, and short-term sleep deprivation is enough to impair cognitive function. If this condition lasts longer, it will have a more serious impact on physical and mental health.

(1) Increase the incidence of migraines

People who have had migraines should know that when a migraine attacks, it seems to take away all your "energy and vitality", and insomnia will "help" the occurrence of migraines. A study spanning 11 years showed that people with long-term insomnia were 40% more likely to suffer from migraines and 50% more likely to suffer from chronic headaches than those without insomnia.

(2) Increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Sleep deprivation disrupts the normal circadian rhythm of blood pressure, causing systolic and diastolic blood pressure to not decrease at night, while the sympathetic nervous system remains in an excited state, thus causing high blood pressure. This condition increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease by 30%.

(3) Impact on mental health

In addition to affecting physical health, sleep deprivation also affects mental health. It is considered a risk factor for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. A large-scale population study in Norway found that insomniacs were 4.2 times more likely to suffer from anxiety and 2.7 times more likely to suffer from depression than non-insomniacs.

(4) Accelerate the aging process of the brain

Another study also found that frequent difficulty falling asleep is associated with memory decline, reduced executive function, decreased language ability, slower visual construction ability and processing speed 14 years later, which is equivalent to aging 2.2 to 3.4 years earlier. These may be related to symptoms such as depression.

(5) Shorten life expectancy

Long-term sleep deprivation will also increase the risk of death and shorten life expectancy.

A study by the University of Sydney showed that women and men with poor sleep quality have a reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) life expectancy of 1.80 years and 2.31 years respectively. Among them, the biggest impact comes from sleep-related breathing disorders, which can reduce CVD-free life expectancy by 6.73 years for men and 7.32 years for women.

03. How to adjust sleep?

In order to avoid these problems caused by sleep deprivation, we can take a series of measures to improve our sleep quality.

▼Create an environment conducive to sleep

This means that we should avoid using mobile phones in bed and ensure that our sleeping environment is comfortable, quiet and dim.

▼Adjust your daily behavior habits

This includes avoiding drinking a lot of water at night, reducing caffeine and alcohol intake, and avoiding the use of bright light.

▼Proper diet

Studies have shown that vitamin D can improve the sleep quality of people aged 20-50. We can take vitamin D and other trace elements that help improve sleep through food or nutritional supplements.

In short, sleep is of great significance to us. If you suffer from insomnia for a long time, you might as well try the above methods to improve your sleep quality.

At the same time, try to maintain a peaceful state of mind, look at the problem of insomnia rationally, and avoid excessive worries due to occasional insomnia.