A sleep deficit can reduce the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, which can lead to a wide variety of health problems.  The result?  Sleepy people are prone to eat too much, put on weight and be at greater risk for poor health.

Rafael Pelayo, MD, of Stanford University’s Sleep Disorder Clinic, says reduced sleep can endanger your health in many other ways as well -- your ability to concentrate and remember fades, you can’t think of the word you want, you get irritable, you become more prone to infections, and you can even put yourself at risk for death.

German researchers at the University of Lubeck concluded that well-rested people get a boost to their immune system that helps them better fight off attacking viruses than the sleep-deprived.  They published their findings in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine and told the news organization Reuters, “Our results are amazing in that they show a decrease in antibody titer after only a single night of sleep deprivation.”  In other words, the number of the body’s infection-fighting “soldiers,” the antibodies, significantly dropped with only one night of poor sleep.

Adults who don’t get enough sleep suffer a marked slowing of reaction time.  They have trouble paying sustained attention.  They can’t focus on multiple sources of information.

By Walter Larimore, MD, and Sherri Flynt, with Steve Halliday

Authors of SuperSized Kids

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