All-nighters can create problems
Whether you’re staying up all night to cram for a test or just can’t tear yourself away from the slow drip of election results, staying up all night can have an immediate impact on you.
Here’s what skipping sleep means for your body and brain:
YOU’RE BASICALLY DRUNK
Feeling less awake can seriously impair your coordination and judgment in the same way that drinking alcohol does. According to the Centers for Disease Control, going without sleep is just like drinking too much alcohol: staying up for 18 hours is the equivalent to a blood content level of 0.05 per cent, while no sleep for 24 hours is equal to having a blood alcohol content of 0.10 per cent. Across the U.S. and Canada, the legal limit is 0.08 per cent.
In the U.S., it’s estimated that 5,000 people died in 2015 crashes linked to drowsy driving according to a Governors
Highway Safety Association report. The Canadian Automobile Association has said that about 20 per cent of accidents in the country are because of drowsy driving.
YOU’VE GOT THE MUNCHIES
According to the National Sleep Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit, a lack of sleep can lead to overeating; when you don’t get enough sleep, levels of the hormone ghrelin — which regulates hunger — spikes and makes us hungry. It also raises the level of the lipid endocannabinoid.
“This acts on the brain in a similar way to marijuana, making the act of eating more enjoyable, especially in the evening. But it increases hunger for specific types of foods, such as cookies, candy, and chips,” the foundation explains.
YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM TAKES A BEATING
Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the book “Why We Sleep,” recommends getting a good amount of shut-eye to help your immune system. In an interview with Business Insider, he pointed out that after only one night of four to five hours of sleep, our bodies see a 70 per cent reduction in “natural killer cells.” These cells play an important role in helping us fight tumours and virally infected cells.
And if you’re constantly burning the midnight oil, or working night shifts, it can potentially add up to more serious health issues. Johns Hopkins Medicine explains that upending our natural sleep cycles “may raise the odds of cancers of the breast, colon, ovaries and prostate. Exposure to light while working overnight shifts for several years may reduce levels of melatonin, encouraging cancer to grow.”
YOU’RE MORE IMPULSIVE
The U.K.’s National Health Service points to research that indicates sleep deprivation can have a negative impact on how we maintain self-control.
In one study published this year in the journal Sleep, researchers looked at the sleep patterns of 52 healthy individuals aged 18 to 35-years old. When they cut just two hours from their average sleep times for three nights, researchers said it “changed several cognitive and affective processes, indicating that the subjects became more impulsive and experienced reduced positive effect in the morning after the sleep deprivation compared with normal sleep.”
HOW TO GET OVER A BAD OR TOTALLY SLEEPLESS NIGHT
Dr. David Greuner of NYC Surgical Associates told The Greatist that if you’re dealing with a morning-after situation, try not to lean too heavily on caffeine. “Drink plenty of water, eat healthy, and try to sneak in a short nap, if possible,” he said.
Neuorscientist Leigh Winters told NBC news that sunlight and fresh air can help you feel more awake, and the natural light can help get your circadian rhythms back to where they should be.