7 Dangerous Effects Of Long-Term Sleeping Problems

Most of us are caffeine-fueled and plagued by a 24/7 society where we’re constantly plugged-in, overworked, and stressed.

These daily habits take a toll on the body and impair its ability to adequately function for maximum health and optimal performance, especially since they contribute to poor sleep.

While one night of short sleep won’t jeopardize your health, long-term sleeping problems can have dangerous, even fatal, effects on your overall health and wellness.

1. Sleep Deprivation and Junk Food Cravings

The inability to sleep may lead most of us to open the fridge at 2 a.m. and reach out for the unhealthiest, high-calorie snacks, but why?

A study in the journal Nature Communications found sleep deprivation disrupts food choices in two ways:

First, it dampens activity in several brain areas responsible for appetitive evaluation our ability to rank different foods in the mind based on what they want, and second, an increase in the brain’s amygdala responsible for controlling the salience of food.

Excessive sleepiness impairs decision-making abilities while increasing our desire for unhealthy foods. This affirms the association between a lack of sleep and an increase in weight gain and obesity.

2. Sleep Deprivation and Your Skin

Beauty sleep is no myth, ladies. A lack of sleep can lead to dull skin, fine lines, and dark circles under the eyes.

When the body doesn’t receive adequate rest, it begins to release more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can break down skin collagen.

In a study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers found poor sleep quality is correlated with reduced skin health and accelerates skin aging.

In addition, not only did sleep deprived women show signs of premature skin aging, they also showed a decrease in their skin’s ability to recover after sun exposure.

3. Sleep Deprivation and Memory Loss

On the days that you’re most tired, you may also find that you’re most forgetful and unfocused. Sleep helps us refine how we store memory, but a lack of sleep can lead to permanent cognitive issues, such as memory loss.

According to a University of California, Berkeley, study in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers found memories may be getting stuck in the hippocampus the part of brain involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing due to the poor quality of deep “slow wave” sleep, which is then overwritten by new memories.

In addition, sleep deprivation can cause brain deterioration, which may help explain memory loss in the elderly.