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Feeling tired during the day, drowsiness, or mood swings: While everyone knows the daily effects of lack of sleep, its adverse effects on health are less well known. On Wednesday, in No Appointment , Dr. Jimmy Mohamed returned to these disorders more common than formerly among the French.
The French sleep less than before
The numbers speak for themselves. The French sleep an average of 1½ hours less than 50 years ago. 45% of 25-45 year olds consider that they sleep less than they need, and more worrying, 13% consider that sleeping is a waste of time.
However, recalls Jimmy Mohamed, "the amount of sleep required and its quality vary greatly from person to person". Indeed, if "the environment, hygiene and rhythm of life play an important role" on sleep, "the genetic potential, heredity, have an obvious impact, and we are not all equal in the face of sleep ".
What are the health risks ?
Many studies have shown the negative impact of a lack of sleep on health. Some have thus proven a link between sleep disorders and impaired cognitive abilities "via an increased presence of senile plaques, abnormal deposits in the brain that are early and revealing signs of Alzheimer's disease". So there is a link between sleep and the brain's ability to "flush out toxins," says the doctor. Depression can also be aided by sleep disorders.
Finally, studies show an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, with an increased risk of high blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke or heart attack, in people with poor sleep quality.
Is the risk of cancer bigger?
The links between sleep and immunity should be better described in the future, according to the health specialist of Europe 1. Because if one is subject to the sleep disorders, "one is a little more sensitive to the infections", indicates Jimmy Mohamed, " and we wonder if this is not what makes people who work at night have cancers that are a little more frequent in the prostate or the colon.In this case, the immune system could have a role in a desynchronization of the circadian rhythm, the internal biological clock, which would have an influence on molecular signals ".
What pathologies can cause specific disorders?
It is not only primary insomnia that can cause sleep disturbances, says Jimmy Mohamed, citing sleep apnea, which "makes you snore and take respiratory breaks that lead to micro-awakenings ", or" restless leg syndrome, characterized by an irrepressible need to move the legs, which may or may not be associated with an unpleasant sensation in the lower limbs ". Finally, we can also mention parasomnia (abnormal behaviors during sleep or at the edge of awakening and sleep), hypersomnia (excessive need to sleep), or narcolepsy (abrupt and irresistible sleep access).