Getting a Good Night’s Sleep Is More Important Than You Might Think

Getting a good night’s sleep does so much more than simply affect the way you feel the next day. Lack of sleep leads to difficulties in completing tasks and lack of concentration, as well as interferes with sound decision-making, causing unsafe actions. In fact, sleep deprivation alone causes about 100,000 vehicle crashes annually, resulting in 1,500 deaths, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Getting insufficient sleep can also make it difficult to get a healthy amount of exercise and can decrease benefits from hormones released during sleep that regulate proper growth and appetite. In addition, when your sleep is cut short, your body does not have the opportunity to compete the necessary phases required for muscle repair and memory consolidation.

Now, researchers at Stanford University have discovered that the peak of the immune system’s activity in the battle against invading bacteria occurs at night with the lowest point of activity going on during the daytime hours. While performing a study involving the fruit fly, researchers found that the particular immune response known as phagocytosis (a major mechanism used to remove germs and cell waste) fluctuates with the body’s internal clock (known as the circadian rhythm). In humans, immune responses such as phagocytosis clear bacterial infection and fight against a number of human diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

According to Stanford researcher Mimi-Shirasu-Hiza in a news release, “These results suggest that immunity is stronger at night, consistent with the hypothesis that circadian proteins upregulate restorative functions such as specific immune responses during sleep, when animals are not engaged in metabolically costly activities.” The findings were presented at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in San Francisco.

Previous experiments have shown that bacterial infection throws off the insects' circadian rhythm, which made them highly susceptible to infection. During this study, researchers infected the flies with two different bacteria at various times of day and night. Flies infected at night were more likely to survive than those infected during the day. Researchers also identified low “phagocytic” activity (innate immune response) in flies with a damaged circadian clock.

Poor sleep habits can effect the health of teens—by leading to high blood pressure, stroke, kidney disease and other illnesses and according to a previous Health News article, routinely getting less than seven and a half hours of sleep can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke, especially when coupled with hypertension. Lack of sleep also effects hormone levels, the appearance of skin and hair, depression, heart health, cholesterol levels and even plays a role in obesity. A recent government study has shown a link between irregular sleep and big bellies.

Getting enough sleep means that you get the amount of sleep you need to not feel sleepy the next day. Most experts recommend an average of 7-9 hours per night in general, although some people function well with less while others need as much as ten. Sleep requirements change within life cycle. Newborns and infants need lots of sleep and naps are important to a toddler’s health. During adolescence, sleep patterns move to a later sleep-wake cycle, but 9 hours of sleep is still required. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep although sleep patterns may change.