How does Fatigue Affect Health?
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The Process
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Science strongly suggests that fatigue can have a dramatic, negative impact on health. Although scientists don't yet completely understand this process, sleep deprivation seems to derail biological mechanisms that otherwise keep the mind and body healthy.
Mental Health
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Fatigue negatively impacts the brain, reducing its ability to pay attention, remember and think quickly, which decreases alertness and reaction time. Fatigue also affects brain function in ways that impact mental health. For example, sleep deficit creates a hyperactive brain response and a disconnect between the hyperactive brain region and the brain's frontal lobe, which controls rational thought and decision-making. This brain state is the same as that found in people with psychiatric disorders.
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Physical Health
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Fatigue appears to disrupt hormones and proteins that play roles in various critical biological processes. For example, sleep deprivation inhibits the body's ability to produce insulin, a substance that allows people to metabolize sugar properly. Fatigue also decreases the body's level of leptin, a hormone that signals a "stop-eating" signal to the brain when the stomach is full. In addition, poor sleep triggers a high-alert state in the body, which increases the production of stress hormones and raises blood pressure.
Fatigue is linked to increased levels of substances in the body that indicate a state of inflammation, which is a risk factor in several life-threatening diseases. According to sleep researcher Alexandros N. Vgontzas of Pennsylvania State University, "If you lose sleep that your body needs, then you produce these inflammatory markers that on a chronic basis can create low-grade inflammation and predispose you to cardiovascular events and a shorter life span."
The Effects
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Fatigue has significant consequences. The brain-impacting effects of fatigue contribute to approximately 56,000 car crashes every year with 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths. The effects of fatigue on the brain also increase a person's risk of mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
When it comes to the body, fatigue's disruption of critical hormones and proteins can have devastating health consequences. By inhibiting insulin production, sleep deprivation may increase type 2 diabetes risk. Fatigue's impact to leptin, the hormone that signals fullness, may well be contributing to the obesity epidemic because tired bodies don't effectively transmit and receive the message to stop eating.
By raising stress hormone and inflammation-marker levels and blood pressure, fatigue may contribute to cancer, heart disease, and strokes. The Nurses' Health Study at Harvard Medical School found a higher mortality risk among people who slept less than six hours a night.
The Solution
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The solution seems obvious: sleep! In our busy lives, making sleep a priority can be harder than it sounds---but it's important. Keep bedtime and wake times on a consistent schedule. Make your bedroom a calm, comfortable, quiet space. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and exercise too close to bedtime. Above all, make room in your schedule for adequate sleep. Your health may depend on it.
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