Nine hazards of lack of sleep for women

Lack of sleep can cause great harm to women's bodies. Many women know its harms, but because of work needs or other reasons, they ignore the problem of sleep. If women lack sleep for a long time, their skin will become dark and dull, dark circles will appear frequently, and their body will become out of shape. In severe cases, the body's metabolism will slow down and problems will occur in body functions. Below, our editor will give you a detailed introduction to the dangers of lack of sleep.

1. Make people stupid

Sleep plays a decisive role in a person's thinking and learning ability. Lack of sleep affects a person's cognitive process in many ways. First, lack of sleep can impair attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities, which can make you less effective at learning.

Secondly, during the night, each sleep cycle plays a role in "consolidating" memories in the brain. But if you don't get enough sleep, you may not remember what you learned or experienced during the day.

2. Lack of sleep can lead to depression

Over time, sleep deprivation and sleep disturbances can lead to depression. Insomnia and depression are inextricably linked. According to a 2007 survey of 10,000 people, those with insomnia are five times more likely to develop depression than those without insomnia. In fact, insomnia is often one of the precursors to depression.

Insomnia and depression are mutually reinforcing. Lack of sleep can make depression worse, and depression can in turn make it more difficult to fall asleep. On a positive note, treating sleep problems can help relieve depression, and vice versa.

3. Makes you forgetful

Want to make your memory clearer? This requires you to get enough sleep every day. Researchers in the United States and abroad have determined that an area of ​​the brain called "spike wave ripples" is specifically responsible for consolidating memories.

This brain wave is also responsible for transmitting learned information from the brain's hippocampus to the cerebral cortex. Most of the "sharp wave ripples" appear when people are in deep sleep.

4. Affects judgment

Lack of sleep affects our understanding of things, which will affect people's ability to make reasonable judgments about events due to the inability to accurately evaluate and act wisely. Sleep-deprived people seem to be particularly prone to errors in judgement.

In this world where the pace of life is getting faster and faster, sleeping less is becoming a symbol of honor. But sleep experts say it's a mistake to cut back on sleep and you may end up losing more than you gain. Especially if you have a judgment-intensive job, the effects of sleep deprivation can be a problem.

5. Cause serious health problems

Sleep problems and chronic sleep deprivation can increase your risk of: heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. An estimated 90 percent of people with insomnia (characterized by difficulty falling asleep and waking up easily) also have other health problems.

6. Accelerate skin aging

I believe most people have experienced sallow skin and puffy eyes after a few nights without sleep. But it turns out that chronic sleep deprivation can lead to dull skin, wrinkles, and dark circles under the eyes.

When you don't get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. Excess cortisol breaks down collagen in the skin, a protein that keeps the skin smooth and elastic. Deep sleep can repair skin tissue.

7. Prone to accidents

Lack of sleep has become one of the important factors causing traffic accidents nowadays. The reaction speed of a person driving when confused is equivalent to that of a drunk driver. According to relevant statistics, in the United States each year, 100,000 motor vehicle accidents and 1,500 traffic casualties are caused by fatigue driving. Most of these perpetrators are young people under the age of 25.

Studies have shown that people who lack sleep or have poor sleep quality are more likely to suffer work-related injuries and accidents. According to a survey, workers who often complain about lack of sleep during the day are more likely to suffer work-related injuries and more frequently have work accidents. And they also take more sick days as a result.

8. Increase hunger

It may increase a person's hunger and stimulate appetite. According to relevant data, people who sleep less than 6 hours a day are more likely to become obese than those who sleep 7-9 hours a day.

Ghrelin in the stomach stimulates hunger and leptin signals in the brain, which suppress appetite. Shortening sleep time will reduce the secretion of leptin and increase the level of hunger hormone. Lack of sleep not only stimulates appetite, it also stimulates the body's craving for high-fat and high-carbohydrate foods.

9. Increased risk of death

Researchers once observed how the sleep patterns of more than 10,000 civil servants affected their mortality rates over a period of more than 20 years. The results showed that those who reduced their sleep from 7 hours to 5 hours or less had nearly doubled their risk of death from the disease. It is particularly important to emphasize that lack of sleep can double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.