![]() A 2003 study by Finnish researchers surveyed 1,600 adults, ages 36 to 50, in Tampere, Finland, about their sleep habits and health. Sleep might also be one of the keys to living healthier, longer. These hormonal changes can lead to obesity and diabetes. Wiley and Bent Formby, PhD, describe “at least 10 different hormones, as well as many more neurotransmitters in the brain, that go sideways when you don’t sleep enough.” Among these are leptin, which regulates metabolism and appetite, and melatonin, an antioxidant. In the book Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival, T. Getting enough sleep is an essential element of achieving and maintaining a proper weight. The athletes also reported increased energy and improved mood. In every sport, from basketball to swimming, the athletes getting more sleep are significantly improving their performance, says psychiatry professor William Dement, MD, PhD, founder of the world’s first sleep lab. Missing shuteye, says sleep specialist Peter Freebeck, MD, decreases physical endurance and increases baseline heart rate.Īn ongoing study at Stanford University is comparing well-rested college athletes with their comparatively sleep-deprived teammates. Sleep also promotes the production of human growth hormone (HGH), which repairs muscle and tissue. During sleep, the body produces cytokines, cellular hormones that help your immune system fight infections. While you slumber, your body is far from idle. “You need to regard sleep as an investment you’re making in yourself, rather than something you have to do or something you think of as downtime,” she says. ![]() Kathy Sexton-Radek, PhD, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., estimates that lack of sleep contributes to depression and anxiety in nearly 40 percent of the patients she sees. Researchers in Australia and New Zealand, for example, have found that drivers who had been awake for 17 to 19 hours before getting behind the wheel performed worse than drivers with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 percent. ![]() When this occurs, though, overall brain functioning suffers - and not just minimally. But the region of the brain associated with memory, called the parietal region, kicked in when sleep-deprived participants took part in the verbal-learning exercises, indicating that the brain can help compensate for its sleep-deprived deficiencies by getting other regions of the brain to “cover” for the affected region. It needs more than simple inactivity to function properly - it needs the restorative effects of sleep.Ī 2000 study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, published in the journal Nature, found that the region of the brain responsible for verbal learning was active in properly rested study participants and inactive in sleep-deprived subjects. Some muscles in the body can restore themselves by relaxing between activities the brain isn’t one of them. Getting enough of it can feel like a luxury in our fast-paced lives, but, really, it’s a necessity for surviving - and thriving - in hectic times. Sleep is an essential priority, not something we should fit in when we can. What’s more, research has shown that getting enough sleep can curb obesity, anxiety and depression - it even helps regulate blood pressure. It’s essential to proper immune function and general good health (and what busy person has time to get sick?). That’s because proper rest improves our ability to concentrate, learn, remember, and to better manage busy, stressful times. In fact, it turns out that adequate sleep and peak productivity go hand in hand. We know sleep is important, but how much can it hurt if we cut back a little in the name of productivity?Ī lot. Or we retire a little later each night as we squeeze in some late-night chores. ![]() We’re racing to finish that project for work, so we rise an hour earlier than usual. When life gets busy, often the first thing we sacrifice is sleep.
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