Does lack of sleep make you stupid?

Poor sleep is bad for your heart AND your brain! An article about poor sleep and the build-up of plaque in the body caught my eye. The study is remarkable in that it is the first study: “to show that objectively measured sleep is independently associated with atherosclerosis throughout the body,” according to José Ordovás, director of nutrition and genomics at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. More about that in a moment. What really caught my attention was further down in the article: A lab-based research study tied the lack of sleep with severe cognitive decreases. In fact, they found if, over two weeks, you are sleeping less than six hours per night your cognitive and reflex abilities are the same as someone who didn’t sleep for two full nights. WHAT?! This means most of us are functioning at a decreased level most of the time! The study also connected the chronic lack of sleep with anxiety and depression. Now back to the increase of plaque due to lack of sleep. The study found that people who sleep less than six hours per night are 27% more likely to have plaque develop in their bodies than people who sleep seven to eight hours per night. People who are up and down all night are 34% more likely to develop plaque. Why is plaque terrible for your heart and brain? Think of plaque as sludge forming on the inside of pipes. As plaque builds, the artery walls thicken which narrows the space available for blood to flow. ...
Source: Embrace Your Heart Wellness Initiative - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Heart Disease Risk Factors Heart Health Stress Management Sleep and heart health Source Type: blogs