Lack of sleep is worse than alcohol
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
According to scientists, insomnia often causes accidents, in particular accidents, than alcoholic intoxication. Such conclusions were made by researchers from Sweden and Norway after a long study of the state of health of volunteers.
The observation lasted more than 10 years, with about 55,000 people under the age of 89 (both sexes) taking part in the study.
First of all, scientists paid attention to what worried the participants (frequent awakenings in the middle of the night, problems with falling asleep, a feeling of fatigue in the mornings, etc.). As a result, it was found that the lack of sleep caused more than 270 citizens to die from the accident, including about 60 injured from falls, 169 injured in an accident. At the same time, experts found that the cause of all accidents was not alcohol, contrary to popular belief, but a constant lack of sleep.
Further observations showed that people suffering from insomnia almost 3 times more often die from various accidents, in comparison with those who sleep well at night. According to experts, constant shortages lead to the fact that the body slows down the reaction, the ability to make quick and correct decisions. In addition, people who rest less than 8 hours a day develop cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, in particular diabetes mellitus.
Chinese experts have found out that underdog negatively affects the mental health of a person, since a bad dream causes disturbances in white matter. The goal of neurophysiologists was to find out exactly how sleep problems affect a person's condition, 53 people took part in the experiment, 23 of them had different sleeping problems.
All participants of the study filled out special questionnaires and underwent magnetic resonance imaging. As a result, it was found that, due to various sleep disorders in the right hemisphere, the integrity of the nerve fibers decreases, which causes a loss of communication with consciousness, a decrease in concentration, and prolonged sleep problems can lead to the development of depressive disorders. According to experts with insomnia, the protective shell of nerve fibers is destroyed, which provokes problems with mental health.
Recently, American researchers said they know how to deal with insomnia - as it turned out all is simple, you should just spend less time in bed. According to the researchers, to get rid of sleep problems you need to sleep less - usually when a person tries to fall asleep, he lies in bed for hours, which is the main mistake. If you can not fall asleep, you just need to get up and do something - this approach, according to experts, will help get rid of the chronic and acute form of insomnia, but in severe cases it will still be difficult to do without medications.
Today, experts recommend that in case of insomnia pay attention to bed linen, it should be made of natural material, the bed and the furnishings in the bedroom. In case of problems with falling asleep and frequent awakenings, you should avoid active actions before going to bed, do not listen to loud music, and also refuse to watch TV.
[1]