Should we really prioritize sleep when we have so much to do?

Everyone knows what it feels like to be fully rested and how a poor night’s sleep impacts everything.  We all have had an occasional bad night of sleep but not prioritizing adequate amounts of sleep over the long-term has significant detrimental effects on our health. We often steal from Peter to pay Paul by sleeping in on the weekends which has been termed "social jet lag". Studies have shown that individuals who consistently get less than 6 hours of sleep or more than 10 hours of sleep have an increased mortality.  Every individual has a “sweet spot” and what is an adequate amount of sleep for one individual may be inadequate for the next.  It appears that being consistent with bedtimes and wake times is likely as important as getting an adequate amount of sleep. 

Why should be prioritized sleep?  Outside of the obvious of being able to focus on the work at hand or have excellent response time while driving an erratic sleep schedule and insufficient sleep impacts all aspects of health.  Growth hormone is tightly linked to slow-wave sleep which occurs in the first half of the night which is important for tissue repair and muscle recovery.  Other hormones have a unique production curve linked to nighttime sleep including cortisol, thyroid, and insulin.  The hormones of appetite and satiety, Ghrelin and Leptin are also linked to sleep.  It has been well-documented in the medical literature that shift workers have a significantly higher percentage of chronic health problems than the general population very likely due to the inappropriate timing of sleep and the disruption of hormonal production.

Insufficient sleep prevents rest and repair of the body leaving the body in a state of stress with higher levels of norepinephrine and epinephrine impacting cardiovascular health such as blood pressure.   It also places the body in a pro inflammatory state which is the foundation of most chronic illnesses.  Disruption of hormones can lead to weight gain. Also, the body’s first line of defense to infection, the natural killer cells are reduced after only one night of insufficient sleep increasing your risk of infection.  How many of us notoriously get sick after a period of sleep deprivation?  Even a simple shift in our circadian rhythm by one hour during daylight savings time has been shown to increase the incidence of strokes, arrhythmias and heart attacks in emergency room admissions within twenty-four hours.

We are a society that never turns the lights off, never stops working, and never rests.  Until we understand the detrimental effects of insufficient sleep on our overall health, we will never make it the priority it deserves.