How Quality of Sleep Affects Your Physical Health

Just how important is sleep to physical health? A rare genetic condition found in only 30 families worldwide have discovered that lack of sleep can kill you. People suffering from fatal familial insomnia die a long, painful death because they are unable to sleep. The longest a patient can last is nine months after symptoms begin.

Most people won't develop fatal familial insomnia, but they still suffer the very real physical affects from lack of sleep. Just how much sleep is needed for a quality sleep varies from person to person. In general, adults need from eight to nine hours a night while seniors need from six to seven hours a night. The CDC estimates that in America alone, 41 million people of working age do not get enough sleep.

Genetic Changes

In an eye-opening study by the University of Surrey, blood samples were taken from volunteers who got enough sleep and compared them to blood samples from people who did not get enough sleep. For the study, those with not enough sleep slept less than six hours a night. The researchers discovered that over 700 genes changed just from lack of sleep.
It is still unknown why lack of sleep caused these changes or just what parts of the body were impacted by the gene changes. It does seem that lack of sleep can impact a person developing Type 2 diabetes or becoming more prone to having a stroke. But the evidence is clear - if you do not get enough sleep, you are eventually going to feel sick.

Impact on Immune System

Although it is unknown exactly why we need to sleep, one theory is that this "down time" helps the body repair damaged cells and replace old cells. These activities are carried out in part by the immune system. When the immune system isn't functioning properly, the body cannot fight any colds, flues or viruses that may be sweeping through the area. This is because the immune system cannot make enough T-cells to fight sicknesses.

Even people who have received immunizations, such as the flu shot or nasal spray, may still wind up getting sick. Lack of sleep means the body cannot respond quickly to immunizations. It also cannot make enough antibodies to fight off the very thing the immunization is supposed to be protecting people from. Once a person gets sick, they need to sleep. If they cannot get enough quality sleep, it will take them longer to get better.