For the last few years, my husband has struggled with sleep apnea, snoring and the dreaded sleep deprivation that accompanies these condition. He has a C-Pap machine, a device that keeps his airways open, and that certainly helps. Having just come back from a routine check-up and readjustment of that machine, we learned some things. I researched the information to learn more.
One of the things the doctor noted, in passing, was that sleep deprivation, even without snoring, can speed up the aging process. Huh? I thought, being too sleep-deprived to have a more articulate question come immediately to mind. The doctor’s comments gave me pause, thinking of all the sleepless nights we’d both spent rocking sick babies, worrying about our sons out on the road late at night or simply brooding over tax forms. Even my sleep-deprived mind could figure out that we’d lost a lot of sleep!
I wanted to know more. How much older did this make us? Was it possible for a 30 year old woman to be running around with the mind and body of a 70 or 90 year old – simply because of lack of sleep? Not that I’m 30 but I can dream, hopefully while I am actually asleep and not behind the wheel of a car or while dozing off some other time.
What I discovered was a bit alarming. While I can’t go back and make up for the sleep deprivation I’ve lost, perhaps I could do something about it now, if only to slow that aging process a bit. So here’s what I know, to the best of my sleep-deprived mind:
Since I consider myself a “people” (oops, I mean “person”, must have been the tired part of my brain typing there)….the bottom line is that lack of sleep can keep your body from repairing the countless tiny or major insults it gets every day, from that sore knee after exercise to the new skin cells that give your face a youthful glow. As you age, sleep alone won’t solve all those issues but lack of sleep can worsen them.
You can find out more about that here: www.sleep-deprivation.com/
Our experience: If we go through enough sleepless nights in a row, the dark circles under our eyes and the poor skin color is clear. Lack of sleep clearly makes us look older. The evidence is right before our faces, usually sitting across from each other at the coffee table, not speaking till we’ve had our first cup of coffee for the day. Actually, I get the coffee and my husband has tea…but you get the point. Those expensive face creams work much better on the faces of people who get their sleep.
Sleep deprivation not only makes people look older but is truly accelerating the aging process
So it isn’t an illusion. Those grey hairs, sagging muscles and tired body may actually be the same body of someone who is chronologically much older. Why? Because a human growth hormone that keeps people looking young is produced during sleep. Cut into the sleep and you cut into the benefits of that hormone. The result: less muscle mass and a negative effect on your skin and bones
Sleep deprivation raise the risk of diseases and conditions that are more common in older people. It can raise the risk of these condition in younger people. The conditions include:
Heart conditions and complications, high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, depression, moodiness, short attention span, lack of focus, slurring, tremors and more. T
Our experience: Sleep deprivation makes me and my spouse grumpier and we feel more depressed. In his case, it also contributes to blood pressure problems (now under control) and problems focusing. I definitely feel much older on those days. Even my joints seem to ache more.
Sleep deprivation can make it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it
We already knew this, having experienced it but if you want a scientific reason here it is: Lack of sleep makes the body more resistant to insulin and reduces the production of leptin. Combine those two effects and you end up with a hungry person who craves carbohydrates, has trouble feeling full and is more likely to gain weight. Do I really have to add that it is harder to find the time and motivation to exercise while feeling depressed and hungry?
Our experience: we have come to realize that getting enough sleep is as important as brushing our teeth, maintaining some common civility (even when sleep-deprived) and routine medical check-ups. When we don’t get our sleep, we eat more.
Anyway, next time you are in the drugstore or at the cosmetics counter, looking at those expensive face creams, consider the fact that getting your sleep may keep you living longer and looking and feeling younger, too. The secret to reversing the aging process or “The Garden of Youth” may not be in a bottle but in your bedtime routine.
