Scientists reveal impact of one night without sleep that can cause serious health issues
Topics: Health, Mental Health
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Health, Mental Health
We're all guilty of pulling all-nighters for deadlines, or parties, but scientists have now found that even one night without sleep can cause serious health issues.
It's advised that adults in the U.S. should get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night for optimal health and cognitive function.
Of course, with the way life goes, it's virtually impossible to get a good night's sleep every single night.
However, citizens may want to skip the regular all-nighters, as scientists have discovered a long list of problems in the human brain that mirror those of Alzheimer's after just one night of no kip.
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Plus - they won't actually help for those finals many will be panic studying for.
The study was done by a team from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria who reviewed a large collection of medical studies over the last 25 years which focused on sleep deprivation, memory and brain function.
In alarming findings, the team found that even one night without sleep can cause a number of pretty big problems within the brain including damage to memory function and weakened brain cell connection.
They also found that even a short period of no sleep could affect your brains ability to create more cells, and invited more toxins to build up - which is never good.
These mirrored the impact caused by progressive neurodegenerative condition, Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common cause of dementia in the U.S.
Alzheimer's accounts for 60% to 80% of all cases of dementia in the country, the National Institute of Aging states.
However, there's no need to panic, as scientists found that the issues caused by no sleep can be reversed by napping, and essentially, getting more sleep.
If that wasn't enough reason to stop the all-nighters, the study found that they don't actually help. Instead of retaining information, they caused people to easily forget. Their decision making and mood were also negatively effected, which sounds like a disaster for anyone sitting their SATs.
We now know the damage one night of no sleep could cause - but what about 264 hours?
Well, back in 1963, 17-year-old Randy Gardner and his friends took it upon themselves to figure out what happens to the brain on no sleep, with Randy drawing the short straw to go without sleep for a whole week - eventually lasting 11 days.
He was then taken to the hospital where doctor's observed his brain waves. Although at the time they said he was 'medically healthy' he admitted that he still felt the affects years later.
In 1997, over 40 years later, he stopped being able to sleep. The exact reason was unclear.