Is there real danger in lack of sleep?

Philippines
June 11, 2012 3:52am CST
I have heard a lot of people saying that having enough sleep is healthy for us. Now does it mean that if we lack sleep, it would be bad for our health? Is there real danger if we don't have enough sleep on a regular basis?
4 people like this
26 responses
@ONLYHOPE (189)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
hai Yes, just like me I have my check up when I got home in my hometown, and the result is low blood , lack of sleep,,tat's why taking up vitamins and try to got sleep not late 9pm. it is very important having enough sleep, to make sure you can prepare for a better work, you can think and work well because your body is conditioned. Health is Wealth Have a nice day
2 people like this
• Philippines
13 Jun 12
Yes, if sleep can make one drowsy at work, then having enough sleep would be the on ly solution to it. For vitamins, I guess B vitamins would be the best for helping one sleep better.
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
Of course. In what I have learned in my class, having a good sleep--that is 6-8hours a day could make your internal organs functioning well. It could also keep your blood pressure stable and most especially it could make feel good physically, emotionally and psychologically. I think I should discuss what effects you will get in not getting enough sleep.. it's the irony of what I have stated earlier..
1 person likes this
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
Thanks for sharing, karstine. Now if what you said is true, maybe lacking sleep could cause us to feel bad physically, emotionally and psychologically and would disturb the functioning of our internal organs as well as having an unstable blood pressure. All of these can cause terrible illness. Wow, I'm beginning to think there is more danger in lack of sleep than I imagined before...
@visavis (5934)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
Hi Better, don't think that you have 2nd thought about lack of sleep is good to our health. Enough or right hours in our sleep is good, also should be deep and good sleep.. nothing to worry is a good sleep means no bad dreams...
1 person likes this
• Philippines
12 Jun 12
That's right BetterDays4me.. and I also agree with you Visavis.. Getting enough sleep is indeed important because it could make us feel good and look better..
1 person likes this
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
14 Jun 12
Yes and yes.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I guess what you mean is yes, lack of sleep is bad for our health and yes, having enough sleep would be the good option...If that is the case, I would also say yes and yes :)
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
15 Jun 12
You got it.
@asdomencil (4265)
• Philippines
13 Jun 12
I guess the danger of laclack in sleep is that it decreases your immune system making you prone to sickness. Also, lack of sleep haltered the body in self detoxification which is usually done when we are sleeping.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
It's easy to see that what you said is right, so what I do when I lack sleep is to try to recover my sleep in the afternoon. If lack of sleep can weaken our immune system, then maybe it would be a good idea to take a lot more Vitamin C to help our immune system recover. I'm not sure if this statement has some medical value but I guess common sense would say it is right. I would recommend Vitamin C that are ascorbate which you can take with larger doses without bad effect.
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I guess you are right. Taking Vitamin C can boost the immune system. However, I heard that there is only particular amount of this vitamin that our body needs. I am not sure if 1000mg of vitamin C is just the amount needed by our body, excess of that will be thrown away thru urination since Vitamin C is water a soluble vitamin.
@CTHanum (8234)
• Malaysia
14 Jun 12
I believe that having the right hours of sleep is good for ourselves so but it depends on individual and the age as well. Some might just find with just 3-4 hours of sleep while the young people I believe they need to have at least 6 hours of sleep every day. I always read that people who lack of sleep tend to eat more than those who sleep well~(^^)
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I'm not sure if I could say with certainty that all fat people lacks sleep because I think many of them sleeps a lot and that is why they became lazy and doesn't want to exercise. I guess there are two sides of the coin here, the dangers of lacking sleep and having too much of it.
1 person likes this
@CTHanum (8234)
• Malaysia
15 Jun 12
Logically that's what it supposed to be but that's what the expert say.(^^) Strange,huh?? Anyway, you are correct. Both having too much and lacking will effect the body. We all know about it but we tend to ignore it.(^^)
@Cherish14 (2693)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
I think there really is a bad effect to us. when i am heart broken haha like when my boyfriend and i fight, i can't sleep the whole night and sometimes i would be awake for more than 30 hours no kidding, i would sleep but i have work so i have no choice. i would be so weak, sleepy all day. Sleep plays a critical role in thinking and learning. Lack of sleep hurts these cognitive processes in many ways. First, it impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn efficiently. Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk for: Heart disease Heart attack Heart failure Irregular heartbeat High blood pressure Stroke Diabetes
1 person likes this
@Cherish14 (2693)
• Philippines
16 Jun 12
thank you friend well we are trying to work things out, and it is not easy. yeah i know that is why i would be so lethargic and can not focus on anything. and being heart broken is even making it worse
@CarlHalling (3617)
• United Kingdom
12 Jun 12
Drained... - This guy looks all in doesn't he...on the edge of his bed...actually this is crh earlier this year. He doesn't look all that good though does he.
Yes, I think so. I've always been a good sleeper, and have enjoyed good health despite a former serious substance abuse problem. But in the last couple of years or so, my sleep has become increasingly poor. I tend to only sleep a few hours, and will often wake up from a dream, or some other reason. I'll often wake unrested and drained, and have to try and catch up on sleep during the day. Which is not always easy, because it's not guaranteed to be quiet. I've had a good few health issues and am on medication. I'm aging, so of course I can't just blame poor sleep quality: but it hardly helps. I think consistently lack of sleep can be very dangerous for the health. I'm going to have to do something about myself soon; because although my health is generally OK, it's not what it was. And my sleep is poor.
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
Hi CarlHalling, maybe it would be good if you could try something that are natural. My father used to take Valerian which is a natural herbal medicine in capsule form for helping him sleep. It could be bought in many natural health stores in my country and I guess in most countries as well. Anyway, I hope you found one that would really help better your sleep.
@cerebellum (3863)
• United States
14 Jun 12
Your body repairs itself when you are sleeping, so it is very important to get enough. If you are sleep deprived there are a lot of dangers. You could hurt yourself or someone else because you can't concentrate, fall asleep while driving and other things. When I start to feel tired, I try not to make any important decisions until I have had a nap. You tend to do stupid things when you are tired and can't concentrate.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
It's true that you usually can't have good judgement when you lack sleep. Your mind would simply not function well enough to manufacture good solutions. I would say relaxed thinking is powerful thinking, having the ability to solve any types of problems known to man.
@acer5540 (354)
• China
13 Jun 12
We should go sleep in most of time.If you have to sleep late once or some time, don't worry, it is not serious problems. But we suggest you to sleep on time, sleep late is bad for our health.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I would agree with you acer. I used to have bad sleeping habit of sleeping so late in the night due to the entertainment I get from the internet. When I realize how often I felt bad the next morning due to it, I started to learn how to sleep earlier. And now I'm feeling better in the mornings because I have successfully learned the new habit of sleeping earlier.
@nangisha (3496)
• Indonesia
13 Jun 12
For me lack of sleep made me feel really terrible.Last month I had been very busy with work I had very little for 4 day continuously and as a result I feel really tired and really don't had spirit to do anything. Even a good sleep cannot made me feel refresh for days. I think if longer than that's maybe feel much worse. So I take conclusion if good sleep really essential for us.
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
Yes, I think it's important not to allow ourselves to have little sleep for a long time because their bad effect could really stay for a long time. So I would conclude that there is nothing better than starting good sleeping habits as soon as you can, which means NOW...
• United States
12 Jun 12
yes there may be a danger in lack of sleep especially when you operate motor vehicles. I am a marine so i have learned to live with out sleep. But some can handle it and some cant. i guess it jus all depends on the person.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I would say every person's life is unique, and what is applicable to the general public may not be applicable to others.
• India
11 Jun 12
Yes, If you don't have a enough sleep it will effects your health. You have to sleep atleast for six hours. This makes you refresh and healthy. Due to lack of sleep, some disturbances takes place in your mind. You can't able to work affectively if you don't have enough sleep. Sleep, exercise, healthy diet play major role in functionality of human body.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
13 Jun 12
I would say six hours should be minimum for most people. I would also agree that sleep makes all your body parts function more effectively.
@Chikezie (385)
• Malaysia
11 Jun 12
Yes you are right Hemanth143, as sleep is an indispensable part of human daily requirement for optimal productivity.
1 person likes this
@aribdee (133)
• United States
11 Jun 12
Yes, it's really bad for the health. I already tried not sleeping for almost 4 days because of my project. The next days I feel like I look wasted and I can't understand how i feel. Getting enough sleep is much better than no sleep at all. I have tried and don't like the feeling at all.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
13 Jun 12
I agree with you aribdee, and I think besides feeling bad we also often look bad when we lack sleep. There is the darkness around the eyes, not healthy and dry skin, tired look, droopy eyes and other physical manifestations of lack of sleep that makes one look less attractive. That is why when there are days when I lack sleep at night, I try to make sure I would also have some time to recover it by sleeping an hour or two in the afternoon.
@aribdee (133)
• United States
14 Jun 12
Yes, sometimes you don't want to talk to talk to anyone because you're tired.
• Philippines
12 Jun 12
Yes, studies and actual cases have confirmed there's a real danger in lack of sleep. Inadequate sleep drains the body of energy, and even causes people to binge (since they need to make up for the lost energy) which, in the long run, may lead to packing on excess pounds. Lack of sleep can also lessen people's productivity and cognitive functioning. That's what I learned from countless books and research on the dangers of lack of sleep. Yet many of us get to do lots of stuff at night, so sleeping early -- especially during the time when the body needs to repair -- can be difficult to adhere to. A doctor once told me, though, that if I wanna live long, I gotta get enough restful sleep -- at the right time each night.
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I believe everything you have mentioned here jcordova. Anyway, it's a good point to remember that having enough restful sleep can indeed make one live longer...and of course, the opposite is true.
@elmiko (6630)
• United States
11 Jun 12
of course there is. it effects your ability to be more productive. one is also more likely to be overweight from not getting enough sleep. overwhelming evidence now links the length of one's waistline to health problems.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I'm definitely concerned with this point of view because I'm one of those who are in a journey of trying to lose weight. I already know that lack of sleep can be bad for your tummy so I try to always have as much sleep as possible. Anyway, I'm glad I lost about 8 pounds in the past two months and I needed to lose about 5 to 10 more pounds to be really satisfied. To reach this goal, I would sleep and exercise more :)
@bearsfan (44)
• United States
11 Jun 12
I don't know whose idea that was. Lack of sleep is quite dangerous. A lack of sleep can affect your health in many negative ways, especially if you go without sleep for an extended amount of time.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I would agree that if you are not able to sleep for more than a day, that would really be worse as what happened to me in the past which made me extremely depressed. I'm so glad I'm out of it now for a very long time.
@Labrat (210)
11 Jun 12
its bad for you, although an adult only need a minimum of 4 hours per night for proper brain function. No sleep is really bad for you
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
So for an adult, sleeping less than 4 hours would then be bad. I would agree with this, and as an adult I always try to sleep as early as possible and sleep at least 4 hours or more per day. I feel fine with four hours sleep with no cognitive or physical problems whatsoever.
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
Yes of course! Having little sleep makes you groggy and easy to be irritated. It will surely post dangers in life especially when you drive while lacking sleep. You might uncontrollably doze off during driving. Same is true with other activities. Lack of sleep can really affect your body's reflexes which makes you more prone to accidents. The brain also doesn't function quite well when it didn't have it's regular rest hours.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
I would agree with you 100% on that AgentGulaman. Imagine if our airline pilot would have little or no sleep... Imagine if all automobile and motorcycle drivers have little or no sleep... Wow, this would be an exciting world with lots of things happening in the road. lol. Seriously, we would save a lot of lives if only people would keep from having lack of sleep.
• Canada
11 Jun 12
well I am not a doctor but yeah I think there would be, I mean it can't be healthy for you're mind or body. with that said just think of the immediate issues with lack of sleep. imagine how much worse you drive a car or operate machinery on lack of sleep? think about weather or not you want the bus driver that takes you're child to school to be well rested. So yes in my opinion its a issue for darn sure. Admittedly i think the side effects of actions might be worse, but like I said how healthy can it be?
1 person likes this
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
Yes, come to think of it I think the main reason why there are road accidents is due to sleepiness from drivers which is a symptom of lack of sleep or drunkness. So it's really a serious advice not to drive while sleepy. Anyway, if we really want to be in peak physical and mental condition then it would be good if we would always have enough daily sleep.
@Chikezie (385)
• Malaysia
11 Jun 12
Sleep is a debt that if we owe it, we must pay. Sleep do not forgive our indebtedness. Sleep is a normal daily requirement of the human being. One faces a danger if he or she continues to deny himself or herself from sleep. It leads to boredom leading eventually to low productivity and weariness. It causes headache and I will rise in blood pressure because the time needed to set to sleep was not given. You body will become conditioned to it after a while which can become devastating.
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
It's easy to believe everything you have just said, Chikezie. A very long time ago, I remember becoming deeply depressed when I was not able to sleep for more than 3 days. I actually forgot the exact reason why I wasn't able to sleep at that time, but I do remember the after effect which was really a terrible experience. Guys or gals, don't allow yourselves to have no sleep even for a day if possible.