Sleep Deprivation: A Wake-Up Call

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In the past month I successfully wrote and defended my general exam and moved virtually all of my possessions (and I have way too much stuff) with a Honda Civic to a new apartment. Needless to say, I was on a temporary blog vacation (but I’m back!) and sleep wasn’t exactly one of my top priorities.

This hectic schedule left me wondering why my eyelids felt heavy when I was in the middle of a conversation, why I kept trying to put the milk back in cereal cabinet, and what was with all those headaches? Certainly I am not the only who has felt the effects of sleep deprivation; in this overly worked, overly technological, overly stressed, modern society, who has time to sleep?

A reenactment of the way many of us look while we get ready for work. 

Trimming off a few hours of sleep each night to cram in one more activity might sound like a good idea in the moment, but it actually has permanent, detrimental effects. A recent study from The University of Rochester found that during sleep, the brain flushes out toxic waste produced during the day, comparable to a sewage system flushing away waste from our homes. Results from this study imply sleep is necessary to rid the brain of potentially toxic chemicals. Without clearing our brains of these toxins we exhibit the questionable, and sometimes dangerous, behavior I’ve experienced in the last month.

What are the effects of sleep deprivation?

We all know we aren’t as sharp or pretty when we don’t sleep well, but a bad night’s sleep affects humans in more ways than making us look and feel sleepy. Sleep deprivation causes serious cognitive, psychological, and physical consequences. These consequences are a result of our brain actually slowing down, and make us prone to accidents, negative social interactions, and long-term health problems.

Source. The parts of the brain affected by lack of sleep.

We are less alert and take a longer time to respond to stimuli when we don’t get enough shut-eye. Even one night of reduced sleep leads to a noticeable drop in logical reasoning, focus, and communication skills. Instances of medical interns making trivial errors are well documented when they work 24-hour shifts. The Chernobyl and Three Mile Island nuclear accidents, Exxon-Valdez oil spill, and Space Shuttle Challenger disaster have all been attributed to sleep-deprived workers exemplifying poor judgment.

Sleep deprivation can have tragic consequences, like the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.

While brain health is dramatically compromised after losing sleep, the body carries an equal burden of sleep deprivation. Less sleep has been associated with respiratory issues, obesity, heart conditions, and susceptibility to colds and viruses. Motivation for physical activity drops, and sleepy people are more likely to sit on the couch and eat unhealthy food. Literally the entire body is tired when we haven’t slept enough, and its performance is compromised.

Source. The entire body suffers when we don’t get a full night’s rest.

Why do we sleep?

Sleep is just as essential to humans as water and oxygen. Without it we would die. Until recently, the reason why was a frustrating puzzle to scientists.

Researchers at the University of Rochester found that during sleep the “sewage” system in the brain goes into overdrive. When we are awake, reactions inside the brain sustain the connections of neurons. These reactions produce chemicals that need to be flowed back into our bloodstream because they can be toxic if too much of them build up. Toxic levels of these chemicals causes involuntary sleep, poor decisions, and could even cause death.

The study showed that during sleep, our brain cells shrink to a smaller size to make more room (called interstitial space) for waste products to be removed with cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid is filtered from the blood into the brain, picks up the toxins, and flushes back out into the bloodstream. So when our brains make more interstitial space while we are asleep, more cerebrospinal fluid is able to flow through the brain to rid it of toxins faster. Think about pinching off a hose to keep the water from flowing out; when you open it back up it floods out much faster. Not all of the toxins get flushed out of our brains when we don’t sleep enough.

This six second video is straight from the study and shows the increase in fluid through the sleeping brain to the left.

Cerebrospinal fluid removes toxic beta-amyloid proteins. Beta amyloid build-up is referred to as plaque, and is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The study found that beta-amyloid proteins were removed twice as fast in a sleeping brain. These findings suggest that not clearing out beta-amyloid proteins fast enough is connected to the development Alzheimer’s, which is also supported by the fact that older brains don’t clear out toxins as fast as young brains. Parkinson’s disease and other degenerative diseases also are associated with the build up of waste products in the brain. Results from this study could give us insight into the progression, prevention and treatment of these tragic diseases.

How much sleep do we need and can we reverse the effects of sleep deprivation?

In modern society we seem to try to cram more than we can fit into each day. Unfortunately, sleep usually is put on the back burner. Each person differs in the amount of sleep they need. A small percentage of (very lucky) people only need four or five hours of sleep per night, but the rest of us need between six and ten if we don’t want to turn into cranky, sick zombies.

Chronic sleep deprivation (making a habit of sleeping less than 6 hours) is much harder to reverse than losing one or two nights. To reverse a night or two of lost sleep, doctors suggest sleeping in until you wake up spontaneously, without and alarm. Those who are chronically sleep deprived should repeat that process as many days in a row as needed until feeling refreshed, clear-headed, and energized upon waking.

More research is needed to determine how to reverse the negative effects of sleep deprivation. This new information is one huge step towards helping us cure our society’s sleep problem. Seriously, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently described sleep deprivation as a “public health epidemic.” The good news is science has advanced our knowledge of why we sleep and how to develop potential treatments for serious diseases and temporary symptoms from lack of sleep. Heck, maybe we won’t even need to sleep in the future (I seriously hope that never happens, I love sleep). For now, if you need me, I’ll be attempting to catch up on my own ZZZ’s.

Here are some other great articles on the topic from Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post and an infographic from The Huffington Post.

Thanks for reading, and cheers to your brain (flushing)!

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