5 Problems Due to Sleep Deprivation

Black circles on the eyes, groggy, hoarse voice, and irritability are some of the effects of sleep time is minimal. Almost most people underestimate the problems arising from sleep deprivation.

In fact, lack of sleep not only makes the flagging during the move, but also can result in dangerous illness, even death.

Here are five negative impact of sleep deprivation on health:

Breast cancer

Graduate School of Medicine researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan has been studied almost 24,000 women aged 40-79 years.

Researchers found that women who slept less than six hours a night have an increased risk of breast cancer 62 percent higher, while those who slept less than nine hours a night have a 28 percent lower risk.

Cardiovascular disease

A 2010 study published in the journal Sleep,

Researchers found participants who slept less than seven hours a night have an increased risk of heart attack. In fact, for women aged under 60 years old and slept five hours or less a night had twice the risk of heart attack.

Researchers from West Virginia University School of Medicine is reviewing data from 30 397 people who participated in the National Health Interview Study in 2005.

Diabetes

According to a study in the journal Diabetes in 2011, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University found that people with type 2 diabetes who sleep less at night have elevated levels of glucose nine percent higher. In fact, insulin levels rose to 30 percent higher, and insulin resistance rates 43 percent higher.

Diabetic patients with insomnia even worse condition, glucose levels can be 23 percent higher, rate 48 percent higher insulin and insulin resistance rates 82 percent higher than diabetics who do not have insomnia.

Colon cancer

A study published in 1240 people in 2011, researchers from Case Western University found people who sleep less than six hours a night have a 47 percent greater risk of colorectal polyps, which can become cancerous, than people who have at least seven hours of sleep.

Death

A study conducted for 10 years at around 16,000 people by researchers at the University of Copenhagen link between lack of sleep and the risk of death. Apparently the men who reported having poor sleep habits, especially those aged under 45 years old, has double the risk of death than men who sleep well.

While men who have trouble sleepingmore than three times a night have an increased risk of suicide five times more than men who sleep undisturbed.

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Rising Star of Brain Found to Regulate Circadian Rhythms

Apr 14 2011

BOSTON (April 14, 2011, noon ET) — The circadian system that controls normal sleep patterns is regulated by a group of glial brain cells called astrocytes, according to a study published online on April 14th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. Neuroscientists from Tufts University School of Medicine found that disruption of astrocyte function in fruit flies (Drosophila) led to altered daily rhythms, an indication that these star-shaped glial cells contribute to the control of circadian behavior. These results provide, for the first time, a tractable genetic model to study the role of astrocytes in circadian rhythms and sleep disorders.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, more than 40 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders. Some sleep disorders arise from changes to the internal clock that is modulated by environmental signals, including light. Biologically, the internal clock is known to be composed of a network of neurons that controls rhythmic behaviors. Rob Jackson and his team previously had found that normal circadian rhythms require a glial-specific protein. In the new study, the team demonstrates that glia, and particularly astrocytes, are active cellular elements of the neural circuit that controls circadian rhythms in the adult brain.

“This is significant because glia have been traditionally viewed as support cells rather than independent elements that can regulate neurons and behavior. Neurons have had center stage for some time but current research is establishing the role of glial cells in brain function,” said Rob Jackson, PhD, professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and member of the genetics and neuroscience program faculties at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts. Jackson is also the director of the Center for Neuroscience Research (CNR) at TUSM.

“We used cellular and molecular genetic techniques to manipulate glial cells in the adult brain of fruit flies and found that such cells regulate neurons of the circadian network and behavior,” said first author Fanny Ng, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the Jackson lab. Ng added, “this is the first study to show that glia can modulate the release of a neuronal factor that is essential for normal circadian behavior.”

Jackson’s team observed altered rhythms in locomotor activity with glial manipulations, an indication the circadian clock had been disrupted, which in humans can contribute to jet lag or serious sleep disorders.

“In order to develop treatments for these disorders, we need to understand their cellular and molecular bases. Our work suggests that Drosophila can serve as a model system for genetic and molecular approaches to understand astrocyte function and astrocyte-neuron interactions. This undoubtedly will contribute to a better understanding of sleep and other neurological disorders that result from circadian dysfunction,” said Jackson.

An additional author on this paper is Michelle Tangredi, PhD, a graduate of the Sackler program in neuroscience and a postdoctoral associate in Jackson’s lab.

This research was funded by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and a training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, all of the National Institutes of Health, and an award from the Russo Family Charitable Foundation Trust through TUSM. The Center for Neuroscience Research is funded by NINDS and Tufts University.

Ng FS, Tangredi MM, and Jackson FR. Current Biology. “Glial cells physiologically modulate clock neurons and circadian behavior in a calcium-dependent manner.” DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2011.03.027

About Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences

Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University are international leaders in innovative medical education and advanced research. The School of Medicine and the Sackler School are renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, biomedical sciences, special combined degree programs in business, health management, public health, bioengineering and international relations, as well as basic and clinical research at the cellular and molecular level. Ranked among the top in the nation, the School of Medicine is affiliated with six major teaching hospitals and more than 30 health care facilities. Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School undertake research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its effect on the advancement of medical science.

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