What Are the Risks of Sleeping Less Than 6 Hours a Night?

What are the risks of sleeping less than 6 hours a night?

We know that getting enough sleep is very substantial for our bodies as it allows us to get some rest after a long tiring day and it also helps us to feel better. There are some people who ignore getting enough sleep because they are busy and there are others who suffer from sleeping difficulty which deprives their bodies of getting the needed rest to be able to start a new day. It is not enough to just sleep, but you have to sleep for at least six hours a night. Let’s discover why you have to sleep this period of time.

Many studies and researches reveal that sleeping less than 6 hours affects you mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally

♦ Boosts the risk of cancer: A Japanese study reveals that women who do not get enough sleep a night are more likely to develop breast cancer than other women who sleep for six to eight hours because insufficient sleep leads to lowering the secretion of melatonin which is known as the sleep hormone.

♦ Leads to stroke: Many studies reveal that sleeping for less than six hours a night increases the risk of stroke especially for middle-aged persons regardless of their health, weight and family history of stroke. So whether you are fat or fit and healthy, you will need to get enough sleep at night in order not to suffer from the symptoms of stroke.

♦ Increases the risk of heart attack: Those who sleep less than six hours are twice as likely to suffer from heart attack than others who get enough sleep.

♦ Leads to heart failure: Being deprived of sleeping for six hours leads to suffering from congestive heart failure which means that the heart becomes weak and unable to pump blood around the body efficiently which seriously affects other organs in your body.

♦ Everyday infections: Insufficient sleep makes you more likely to have different infections such as colds, flu and others because the hormones that are responsible for fighting these infections in your body which are cytokines and cellular are low as they are produced during sleep.

♦ Gaining weight: It is a very serious problem as staying awake for a long time means consuming more food and drinks and this is because the hormone leptin, which is  responsible for telling your brain that you consumed enough food, is low in your body.

Other dangerous symptoms & problems

In addition to all of the previous risks that result from sleeping for fewer than six hours, there are also other symptoms and problems from which you can suffer if you do not get enough sleep such as:

• Weakness
• Loss of vision
• Numbness
• Sensitivity to pain
• Dizziness
• Depression
• Stress
• Emotional instability
• Shortens your life
• Slows metabolism which leads to Type 2 diabetes
• Affects different abilities such as creativity, memorizing, productivity, the ability to learn and other mental abilities.
• You may also become unable to express yourself whether it is in writing or verbally.

All what you need for solving these problems and avoiding all of these risks is to save time for yourself to get enough period of sleep that ranges from {6 to 8} hours not less or more than that.