Insomnia Cure

The effects of insomnia or sleep deprivation are vast, far reaching and quite serious.

A study at the University of Chicago found physiological changes that resembled the effects of old age or early diabetes after less than one week of 4 hours of sleep per night.

The study found that during times of sleep deprivation metabolic and endocrine (hormone function) changes mimic the physiological signs of aging.
Chronic sleep loss may bring age related illnesses at an early age, along with increasing the severity of them. Hypertension, Diabetes, Memory loss, Obesity are a few examples.

The study showed that young, healthy men after being sleep deprived it took 40% longer time to normalize their blood sugar after a high-carbohydrate meal. Their ability to secrete insulin and their ability to respond to the insulin both decreased by 30%. (Insulin helps the sugar to get inside the cells where it is used as energy, when the cells do not respond to the insulin, the sugar remains in the bloodstream) This decrease in response to insulin is an early sign of diabetes.

Sleep deprivation also lowered the secretion of Thyroid Stimulation Hormone. (TSH) TSH is secreted by the pituitary gland and governs the functions of the thyroid. Another effect of insomnia or sleep deprivation found during the study was an increased level of cortisol. Cortisol is a “stress hormone” elevated during times of stress putting the body in a continous state of “fight or flight”.

When the subjects returned to an 8 hour per night amount of sleep their values quickly normalized. Interestingly though, when the subjects slept more than 8 hours per night their values improved beyond the normal range suggesting that even 8 hours of sleep may not meet our requirements.