American experts remind you of the main effects of lack of sleep, which have long been proven by science and which, unfortunately, we often forget about.

So, lack of sleep can ....

Increase the chance of a stroke.

Even if you do not have classical risk factors, such as overweight or a burdened family history, lack of sleep is associated with a significant increase in the risk of stroke. This was proved by scientists in 2012.

Adults who regularly sleep less than 6 hours a day have a 4 times greater risk of stroke compared to their peers who normally get enough sleep.

Lead to obesity.

Lack of sleep is associated with eating disorders and eating unhealthy foods. It is proved that people who do not get enough sleep, have a greater craving for fast food and eat large portions.

Scientists believe that this is due to hormonal changes that are triggered in the body due to lack of sleep. Sleep less than 6 hours a day increases the synthesis of the hormone of hunger ghrelin and reduces the production of leptin, which should balance your appetite. This is evidenced by the results of an analysis of 18 studies that examined the relationship between sleep and appetite.

Increase the risk of diabetes mellitus.

Several small studies that examined the relationship between poor sleep and insulin resistance led to disappointing results. One study showed that among healthy adolescents, lack of sleep is associated with high insulin resistance - a risk factor for diabetes. This means that the pancreatic hormone in their body is not working efficiently.

The second study revealed that if there is a lack of sleep, fat cells become especially resistant to insulin, even if a person is on a strict diet.

Speed ??up memory loss.

You probably know that in the worst days your brain becomes less productive, you forget important things and can not concentrate. It's not so bad. The bad news is that lack of sleep can cause irreversible cognitive changes. The less you sleep, the faster your memory and mental capacity will deteriorate, and no one guarantees their 100% recovery.

According to one study in 2013, lack of sleep can be one of the engines of age-related memory decline.

Damage your bones.

At least in the experiments on rats sleep deprivation with time leads to the development of osteoporosis. Researchers say that when 72-day sleep is not enough for laboratory rodents, the bone mineral density decreases markedly and the bone marrow condition worsens. A couple of years ago, scientists advanced the hypothesis that lack of sufficient sleep is one of the reasons for the deteriorating ability of the body to repair bone tissue over the years.

Lead to oncological diseases.

There is a small amount of scientific evidence that insufficiently long and bad sleep can increase the risk of certain types of cancer.

A 2010 study showed that of the 338 patients who had screened colorectal cancer, the frequency of sleep disorders was much higher than in the general population. Even after introducing traditional risk factors into the analysis, it turned out that precancerous conditions (polyps in the intestine) and colorectal cancer are more common in people with poor sleep. Another study found that lack of sleep can be a risk factor for breast cancer.

Cause heart disease.

Stress and lack of sleep lead to increased production in the body of substances that damage the heart. This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted four years ago in the United States.

Scientists have found that sleep less than 6 hours a day at 48% increases the likelihood of death from cardiovascular disease.

Kill you.

If you sleep a little, you need not only fear for your heart.

Foreign medical publications report that people who regularly sleep less than 6 hours a day die much earlier than those who find at least 6.5-7.5 hours to sleep. A study conducted in 2010 showed that during 14 years of observation such people died 4 (!) Times more often than the control group. These are figures that can not be overestimated.

medbe. en.