- Sleep deprivation is common among U.S. adults.
- It has also been linked to several health issues, including high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
- A new study has found that after 10 days of deprivation, 7 days of recovery is not enough for people to return to regular function.
- Experts say people may also overestimate how well they have recovered from sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation is common in the United States.
In fact, the American Sleep Apnea Association reports that 70 percent of U.S. adults do not get enough sleep at least 1 night each month. Further, 11 percent report insufficient sleep every night.
Also, if you have been deprived of sleep for a while, it may take more than sleeping in on the weekend to make up for it, a new study suggests.
When people were deficient in sleep for 10 days, followed by a 7-day recovery period, the study found that the participants had recovered their baseline reaction speed. However, they had not fully recovered on any of the other measures of function.
According to study lead author Jeremi Ochab, PhD, an assistant professor at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, research has linked sleep deprivation to several important health problems, including cardiometabolic disorders such as high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus.
In addition, it has been linked to neurobehavioral issues such as lapses in attention, slowed working memory, reduced cognitive capacity, and depressed mood.
What was not known, however, was how long it takes to recover from periods of sleep deprivation. This is the question that Ochab and his team sought to answer.
Source: healthline