Weight gain connected to sleep deprivation, insomnia

Pamela Egan Practical Practitioner

 

By: Pamela Egan, FNP-C CDE

 

 

Increases in weight connected to sleep deprivation, insomnia

 

 

Stress, sleep and eat – It’s vicious cycle!

Did you know that the less sleep you get, the heavier you are? Many people don’t know that weight gain in our society is frequently associated with sleep deprivation!

When you’re too tired to exercise you may sleep poorly which leads to hunger. The result is that you eat more (which leads to stress), and you can’t sleep.

Five different chemicals such as neuropeptide-Y allow us to fall asleep.

Diet pills suppress neuropeptide-Y and suppress sleep – the sleepy chemical. Weight gain is related to how much sleep we’re not getting.

Have we always been a nation of poor sleepers? Epidemic sleep problems began about 100 years ago with the advent of electricity. Thomas Edison was an insomniac. Our great grandparents slept 1 1/2 hours longer than we do! When our electricity goes out today, what do we do? We go to sleep when it gets dark.

How much sleep do we need? Research shows that we need 8 hours, 15 minutes of sleep per day. No more, no less! People who oversleep also tend to be heavier.

So what are the health risks of poor sleep? Six hours of sleep equals 18 percent more heart attacks than eight hours of sleep. There is 70 percent increased death rate with six hours of sleep vs. eight hours of sleep.

Functional ability declines with less than 8 hours sleep. A half-hour reduction per day causes 35 percent reduction in ability to do alertness task.

Sleep deprivation is also linked to “Frontal Lobe Syndrome“.

Symptoms of Frontal-Lobe Syndrome include:

  • Poor attentiveness
  • Unable to do long term planning- prioritize
  • Unable to deal with complicated new problems
  • Overconfidence
  • Clumsiness
  • Memory problems

A person who is sleep deprived has the same brain wave patterns as children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and there is speculation that the epidemic of ADD is partly due to sleep deprivation.

Dangers of Sleeplessness:

Sixteen hours awake equals a blood alcohol level of 0.05, as eyes move measurably slower without sleep.

There are more auto accidents due to sleeplessness than to alcohol. Major disasters such as Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, Challenger and most airplane crashes have been linked to sleeplessness.

Sleep apnea has a very high mortality. Scientists estimate that the sleep deprived experience a 50 percent increase in cardiovascular deaths compared to those who sleep enough.

It is not normal to:

  • Fall asleep if reading quietly in the afternoon.
  • Sleep on airplanes.
  • Fall asleep while watching TV in the early evenings.
  • Drift off at afternoon meetings. (Boredom doesn’t make you fall asleep, sleepiness does!)
  • Sleep when you are a passenger in a car.
  • Need caffeine and open windows to drive two hours.
  • Drift off while waiting at red lights.

Common Sleep Disorders Include:

  • Scheduled Sleep Deficit
  • Insomnia
  • Sleep apnea and snoring
  • Nocturnal Movement disorder
  • Narcolepsy

Trouble falling asleep usually needs behavioral evaluation and treatment, and multiple awakenings during the night should be medically evaluated.

Common causes of awakening include sleep apnea/snoring, depression/anxiety, drug/alcohol/caffeine effects, physical discomfort, menopause, twitching, tooth grinding, room environment issues (light, noise, etc.) and bladder problems.

Falling asleep troubles include insomnia from sleep onset vs. sleep maintenance.

Behavioral treatment of insomnia has been proven more beneficial than pills. Stimulus response therapy includes bedtime rituals and sleep hygiene environment, cognitive behavioral therapy, inner dialogue and relaxation therapy (and biofeedback).

If behavioral treatment fails, the current best medications include Ambien and Sonata. Sedating antidepressans such as Trazodone, Remeron and Paxil are used for sleep. Other benzodiazepine medications include Restoril and anxiety meds such as Xanax and Ativan.

However the risk of dependence goes up with these drugs.

Simple insomnia is best treated with behavioral treatment. Depression and anxiety should be treated. Over the counter drugs include antihistamines (Tylenol PM, Benadryl), Valerian Root, and Kava Kava.

This article was originally published August 4, 2003 in The St. Tammany News.

 

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