Sleep Deprivation Consequences

Sleep deprivation is common for all adults. We miss sleep for social engagements, we miss sleep because of stress and worry, we miss sleep because of work, we miss sleep because of time changes, and illnesses. Most of the time people think that they will miss a little sleep during the week and make up that sleep on the weekend when they do not have work commitments.
Studies have proven that when you miss sleep, you can never really make up for that loss. Sleeping ten hours on Saturday will not compensate for you going to bed thirty minutes late four times in the week.
Sleep deprivation also increases the amount of insulin resistance a diabetic shows. When the people in the study missed thirty minutes of sleep each day during the week, their insulin resistance increased by thirty nine percent. This makes it more difficult for a diabetic to regulate their blood sugar levels.

How much of a sleep debt is a problem?

If you miss as little as thirty minutes of sleep you can increase your risk of becoming obese by 17%. People who regularly get seven and one half hours of sleep instead of eight hours of sleep are 72% more likely to become obese than people who get a full eight hours of sleep each weekday.

Other causes of Sleep Deprivation

If you sleep in a room with a television playing, you may cause yourself not to go into a deep sleep that allows your body to rest properly. You may not think of this as sleep deprivation because you were in bed for the full eight hours, but whenever your body does not go into a deep sleep it is not getting the rest it requires.
Sleeping in a room that is too warm will cause you to not go into a deep sleep. When you are too warm you will toss and turn more than when you are cool. When you are cool you pull the covers up close to you and that act causes you to feel more secure and to sleep deeper.
Overeating before you go to bed can cause you to not be able to sleep as deeply. You get uncomfortable when you overeat and this can stop you from sleeping.

What you can do to solve the problem

The best way to solve a sleep deprivation problem is to get on a schedule of activities during the week and stick to it. You need to plan to have dinner at the same time, bathe at the same time, and get into bed at the same time.
Soothing music may help you to fall asleep, but music that has a fast beat, or music with words may stop you from falling into deep sleep. Keep the lighting in the room dim, and keep the room cool.