The Better You Sleep, The Longer You Live (Part 2)

Sleep Deprivation VS The Body

Let's explore five critical effects sleep deprivation can have on the body:

Body Part 1: Cardiovascular Health

Research shows that unhealthy sleep leads to an unhealthy heart. The risk of developing and/or dying from coronary heart disease rises by 45% with progressively shorter sleep. For adults age 45 and above, sleeping fewer than 6 hours a night leads to a 200% increased likelihood of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

This unhealthy sleep often results from an overreactive sympathetic nervous system - the system that triggers a stressful fight or flight state, leading to increased heart rates, blood pressure, and cortisol levels. This is in contrast with the deep relaxation of the body during NREM sleep, which is characterized by a drop in heart rate and blood pressure.

Body Part 2: Metabolism

Sleep deprivation also detrimentally affects metabolism, significantly contributing to weight gain and increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. With sleep loss, your appetite increases due to changes in hunger and satiety hormones, leading to overeating and weight gain.

Furthermore, a lack of sleep can make your body less able to manage calorie intake effectively. This inefficiency extends to how the body processes blood sugar, with insulin reception compromised after just a week of 4 to 5 hours of sleep per night.

Body Part 3: Reproductive System

The ramifications of sleep loss also extend to the reproductive system. Men face a significant reduction in testosterone levels equivalent to aging 10 to 15 years with sleep deprivation. Similarly, sleep-deprived women face fertility issues, including a 20% reduction in follicular releasing hormone necessary for conception, and are at an increased risk of miscarriages.

Body Part 4: Immune System

The immune system, too, relies heavily on sufficient sleep. Lack of sleep can suppress the immune response, reducing the number of natural killer cells that form the body's first line of defense against infections. Even minor sleep loss can impair immune function, whereas chronic sleep deprivation can result in a 40% increased risk of developing cancer compared to those who get 7 hours or more of sleep a night.

Body Part 5: Genetic Material

Finally, sleep deprivation can attack the very structure of your genetic material. Thousands of genes within the brain rely on consistent, adequate sleep for stable regulation. Insufficient sleep can alter the activity of 711 genes, increasing those linked to chronic inflammation, cellular stress, and cardiovascular disease while decreasing those that promote stable metabolism and optimal immune responses.

Sleep deprivation is a serious issue that damages every aspect of our physiology, contributing to a host of diseases and shortening lifespans. As Matthew Walker puts it, "The shorter you sleep, the shorter your life."

Your Brain on Dreams

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is a primary stage of vivid dreaming. In this state, brain activity is high and resembles being awake. Interestingly, specific parts of the brain such as the visuospatial regions, motor cortex, hippocampus, and deep emotional centers are 30% more active during REM sleep than when we're awake.

On the contrary, regions responsible for rational thought and logical decision-making, notably areas of the prefrontal cortex, deactivate. This contributes to the often bizarre, emotionally charged dreams that we experience.

Dreams as Therapy

Dreams may not be a simple replay of our waking lives, but they seem to reflect our emotional concerns. One fascinating theory suggests that REM sleep dreaming offers a form of overnight therapy, essentially transforming painful or traumatic emotional episodes from the day into a less emotionally charged memory.

During REM sleep, noradrenaline, a stress-related chemical, is entirely absent from the brain, offering an anxiety-free environment to process these memories.

Dreams and Facial Expressions

Apart from helping process and diffuse emotional experiences, dreams also play a vital role in decoding social cues. The ability to accurately read facial expressions, which is a crucial social skill, is notably influenced by REM sleep.

REM sleep readjusts the brain's emotional calibration, maintaining the precision required to decode others' emotions based on their facial expressions accurately. Deprivation of REM sleep results in a decreased ability to correctly interpret facial expressions, skewing them as hostile or aggressive.

Matthew Walker, in his book, suggests we have a long way to go in fully understanding dreams. Current research points towards their multifunctional role, including memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and fostering creativity. As we continue exploring the world of dreams with modern neuroscience, he anticipates uncovering even more about their function and significance.

Sleep Disorders

Sleep Disorder 1: Somnambulism

Somnambulism, more commonly known as sleepwalking, is a sleep disorder marked by unconscious movement during sleep. These activities, which can include routines as mundane as brushing teeth or drinking water, occur predominantly during the lighter stages of NREM sleep. Although it is more prevalent among children, most individuals outgrow this condition by their teenage years.

Sleep Disorder 2: Insomnia

Insomnia is another sleep disorder characterized by significant difficulties in both falling and staying asleep. Even when they reserve an ample 7 to 9 hours of sleep, insomniacs struggle with sleep. Emotional distress and other overreactive sympathetic nervous system activities typically trigger insomnia. This sleep disorder disrupts the sleep cycle, resulting in less profound deep NREM brain waves and fragmented REM sleep.

Sleep Disorder 3: Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that hampers the control of sleep and wakefulness. It's characterized by extreme daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis, and cataplexy, which is a sudden loss of muscle control. The loss of brain cells which are responsible for producing orexin (a chemical that signals wakefulness) is commonly observed in narcoleptic patients, causing them to constantly hover between sleep and wakefulness.

Sleep Disorder 4: Fatal Familial Insomnia

Fatal familial insomnia is a rare genetic degenerative brain disorder. Those with this condition gradually lose their ability to sleep, which leads to significant physical and mental deterioration and typically results in death within 10 months.

What Would Happen if You Were Continually Kept Awake?

The effects of extreme sleep deprivation have been studied through experiments conducted on rats and dogs. These studies show the extreme ramifications of sleep deprivation and reveal septicemia as the final fatal consequence. These bacteria-induced systemic infections were made possible by the weakened immune system due to sleep deprivation.

The same studies demonstrated that sleep-deprived subjects lost body mass, couldn't maintain body temperature, and suffered extensive internal damage.

In conclusion, sleep is not just a passive state of rest, but a crucial process for our physical health, cognitive function, emotional well-being, and longevity. Understanding the intricate processes that occur during sleep and the vital role it plays in our lives can help us appreciate its importance and take steps to improve our sleep habits. Remember, as Matthew Walker emphasizes, the better you sleep, the longer - and better - you live!

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