Lack of sleep deserves stigma – scientist

People who boast about getting by on less than five hours sleep should be stigmatised like smokers because of the harm that tiredness can cause, a leading professor has said.

Professor Russell Foster, a neuroscientist from the University of Oxford, said lack of sleep was damaging the health of the nation, with too many early risers trying to function with brain skills so impaired they could be drunk.

Studies have suggested that lack of sleep raises stress, which could lead to higher blood pressure and increased stroke risk.

Foster called for a change in attitudes towards getting an early night. ‘‘There certainly is a culture of, ‘well, I only had five hours of sleep last night, how fantastic am I?’,’’ he said. ‘‘In fact, we should be looking down on those sort of things; in the same way that we frown upon smoking, I think we should start to frown upon not taking our sleep seriously.’’

The neuroscientist raised concern that sleep deprivation could cause risks not just in jobs such as healthcare and transport, where dangers were obvious, but also could damage the quality of crucial decisions.

‘‘We see this too much with really senior people,’’ he said. ‘‘Lack of sleep damages a whole host of skills – empathy, processing information, ability to handle people, but right at the top of the chain you get overly impulsive, impaired thinking, because of this problem.

‘‘Look at banking, look at the recent decisions about the Greek crisis. We see major discussions going through the night which have a massive impact, and decisions are being made when skills are very impaired.’’

Baroness Margaret Thatcher slept for only four hours a night as prime minister, as did Winston Churchill during World War II – although he insisted on a two-hour nap in the afternoon.

Foster said many of those who rise before dawn were unaware of just how badly it could affect the functioning of their brain.

‘‘At four o’clock in the morning our ability to process information is similar to the amount of alcohol that would make us legally drunk,’’ he said.

In 2010, a University of Warwick study found that people who slept fewer than six hours each night were 12 per cent more likely to die before the age of 65 than those who slept six to eight hours.

Foster said the evidence about the increased health risks posed by night shifts was also compelling. Studies suggest that working night shifts speeds up the ageing process and is linked to increasing risks of cancer and heart disease.

Professor Russell Foster, a neuroscientist, says many early risers are unaware of just how badly this could affect the functioning of their brain.