Sleep: The Repercussions of Not Doing It Right
By Mike Hazle, Sep 29, 2021
Part 3 in the series: Re-Engineering Human Performance Through Sleep
How well a person sleeps every night can have a huge impact on their health, both mentally and physically. Here are some of the negative health consequences of not getting enough sleep.

- Lack of quality sleep (REM sleep) has been linked to an increase in Alzheimer's and Dementia. (1) (2)
- The protein beta-amayloid has been shown to increase by losing just one night of deep sleep. Beta-amayloid build up in the brain has been associated with impaired brain function and Alzheimer’s disease.(1) (2)
- The detriments resulting from sleep loss include impaired cognitive and behavioral performance and a dramatic increase in oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body. While not always harmful, long-term oxidative stress can lead to cell and tissue damage which can contribute to aging and illness.
- The lack of deep restorative sleep also impacts essential cognitive processing such as memory consolidation and insight formation. (3) (4)
References:
- (1) Lucey, B.P. & Bateman, R.J. (2014). Amyloid-β diurnal pattern: possible role of sleep in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Science Direct.
- (2) Wang, C. & Holtzman, D.M. (2019). Bidirectional relationship between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease: role of amyloid, tau, and other factors. Neuropsychopharmacology.
- (3) Ellenbogen, J.M. (2005). Cognitive benefits of sleep and their loss due to sleep deprivation. Neurology
- (4) Simiakakis, M., Kapsimalis, F., Chaligiannis, E.,Loukides, S.,Sitaras, N., Alchanatis, M. (2012). Lack of Effect of Sleep Apnea on Oxidative Stress in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) Patients. PLOS.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039172