5 Ways Sleep Deprivation Can Kill You

Your Gadgets Are Killing You

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The New York Times reported that studies have found a compelling link between the body's production of melatonin, a hormone produced by the body in the low-light hours of evening and nighttime, and our increased exposure to blue-spectrum light waves produced by both energy-efficient light bulbs and electronic gadgets. It's widely believed that humans sleep less now than they ever have before, but now scientists have found that our very ability to sleep is being jeopardized by all the blue light that we are exposed to every day.

Although electric lights have kept us up long past dark for over a century, only recently have we moved away from primarily incandescent light, which has more red-spectrum light waves in it than energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights. And while all kinds of late-night light can make it harder for us to sleep, it's the blue-spectrum waves that seem to have the most intense impact on our body's ability to produce sleep-regulating melatonin. This means not only less sleep but a higher risk of sleep deprivation for some people, which can be life-threatening. But now there's a software program called F.lux that can change that. F.lux correlates your computer's glow to the time of day, so that at night, you see a warm, soft night instead of the usual harsh glow. The best part of the program? It's free.

But while it may help sleep deprivation, it won't cure it. So you still need to understand the consequences. Sleep specialist Dr. Ron Kotler outlines why lack of sleep can kill you.

While training as a pulmonary fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, I became fascinated by patients who suffered from sleep-related breathing disorders. Many of these patients stop breathing hundreds of times every night. I decided that the evaluation and treatment of patients with the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome would ultimately play an important part of my career as a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician.

In 1987, I became an attending physician at Pennsylvania Hospital. As I began to lecture other physicians about the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, many referrals followed. In 1991, along with Dr. Charles Cantor, I started a one-bed sleep center. This center quickly grew to a four-bed program performing 1,000 sleep studies per year. My fascination with sleep medicine evolved and I became interested in all aspects of sleep disorders. This article will focus on the dangers of not getting enough sleep and how sleep deprivation can kill you.



Sleep deprivation can kill you

In the late 1800s, Thomas Edison illuminated the world with the incandescent light bulb. Little did he know that his great work would someday be a major contributing factor to the development of widespread sleep deprivation. In 1900, adults in the United States slept an average of nine hours per night. In 2000, adults slept an average of just seven hours per night. We have not evolved to need less sleep, but we are getting less sleep. In past centuries, our sleep/wake cycle was closely linked to the rotation of the earth. We slept when it was dark and we awoke and worked when it was light. However, with the development and widespread availability of artificial light, we have prolonged our waking hours. Stimulants such as caffeine have also contributed to longer periods of wakefulness.

Now that we’re all getting less sleep, you should know the five ways sleep deprivation can kill you.



1- You could die in a car crash

2- You could die at work

3- You could become irritable, depressed and suicidal

It is estimated that 100,000 car crashes occur yearly because of drowsy driving. This contributes to 1,500 deaths and countless disabling injuries annually on our highways.You undoubtedly are judged at work on a regular basis. Not getting enough sleep will affect your job performance and could contribute to being passed over for promotion or loss of your job. Worse yet, if your work involves operating heavy machinery or driving a motorized vehicle such as a truck, bus or forklift, you could hurt or kill yourself or someone else.Deep refreshing sleep is essential for feeling rested and well. If you are not getting enough sleep, this could make you feel very sad and could contribute to significant relationship difficulties. If this is a chronic condition, your prolonged depressed state could lead to thoughts of suicide.

We have two more ways sleep deprivation can kill you…