Doctors reveal how just one bad night's sleep can alter your health in a really serious way
Doctors have made a worrying link between having one bad night's sleep and serious negative impacts on your health.
Pretty much everyone in the world will have suffered from a poor night under the covers (not like that!) at one point or another.
For some, it's a rare occurrence, although on the other end of the spectrum is those suffering from insomnia, and the inability to get even a few hours kip, never mind the recommended eight hours of rest.
Now, new research has suggested that even if you think you get a decent amount of sleep on any average day, just one dodgy night of sleep deprivation can have quite awful impacts on your body.
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The study, published in The Journal of Immunology, found that even a single night of 24-hour sleep deprivation in young, lean, and healthy individuals altered how someone's immune system responds.
Those impacted saw a lack of sleep alter how immune cells help regulate the immune system, changing to resemble how someone who is obese would respond.
Responding to the finding, the study says that 'this suggests that the immune system is highly sensitive to sleep and may adapt rapidly to changes in sleep pattern'.
And according to the researchers, if these shifts persist, they could contribute to long-term inflammatory states and increase the risk of disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic inflammation, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Fatema Al-Rashed, who led the study that was conducted at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait City, said: “Our findings underscore a growing public health challenge. Advancements in technology, prolonged screen time, and shifting societal norms are increasingly disruptive to regular sleeping hours.
"This disruption in sleep has profound implications for immune health and overall well-being."
The research found that obese people had worse sleep quality than those who were fit and healthy.
But when fit and healthy people were made to endure sleep deprivation in a 24-hour period, blood samples from these patients saw that their immune system had shifted to resemble how an obese person would respond during sleep, with inflammation higher.
The researchers now want to explore the mechanisms linking sleep deprivation to immune changes.
They also want to find out if interventions such as structured sleep therapies or technology-use guidelines can reverse these immune alterations.
Dr Al-Rashed said: “In the long term, we aim for this research to drive policies and strategies that recognise the critical role of sleep in public health.
"We envision workplace reforms and educational campaigns promoting better sleep practices, particularly for populations at risk of sleep disruption due to technological and occupational demands.
"Ultimately, this could help mitigate the burden of inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases."
Tom Earnshaw