Is sleep a priority for you and your family? Are you running short on sleep or have poor sleep quality? Everyone has had nights where sleep wasn’t the best or most restorative. You may be able to compensate for it with a nap or sleeping in on a day off, but the effects of chronic sleep deprivation affect your whole body with increased levels of oxidative stress and systemic inflammation. Lack of sleep ages your body, increasing the risks for numerous health changes.
Depression, Anxiety, and Mental Health
The effects of sleep deprivation affect all ages including our youth. As children and adolescents go back to school, lack of quality sleep can increase anxiety and depression or deteriorate cognitive health or other mental health challenges. Sleep insufficiency and excess in children and adolescents is also associated with increased suicide risk.
Academic Performance, Memory Decline, and Neurodegeneration
Sleep deprivation interferes with the memory centers of your brain to consolidate new information and make it into long-term memory impairing academic performance. This also affects daily work performance and aging well.
Sleep deprivation interferes with the normal physiology and maintenance of brain function. The decline in cognitive health, memory, and increased stress from lack of sleep is due to a decline in the number and function of nerve connections between the amygdala (limbic system) and the prefrontal cortex (front of brain).
This affects your brain’s ability to integrate emotion and cognitive function which makes it more difficult to make decisions, engage in positive social interactions, and contain and process emotions. It’s like part of your brain went offline and is not connecting properly to the grid.
A lack of deep, restorative sleep interferes with innumerable functions in the brain including cell membrane repair, mitochondrial rest, restoration of cell signaling and the ability to sense neuro-signaling mechanisms. It disrupts function and restoration of neurotransmitters and other facets of repair.
Furthermore, BDNF levels decline and astrocyte and microglial cell functions and neuroplasticity become impaired with sleep deprivation. Research suggests that long-term sleep deprivation leads to deterioration and degenerative changes of neurons due to relentless brain activity.
The effects of sleep deprivation go well beyond mental, emotional, and cognitive function. Studies show that the stress of insufficient sleep affects the whole body. Here are some recent findings.
Gut Microbiome
A recent study showed the results of experiments with sleep-deprived mice compared to normal mice. Those with a lack of sleep had lower levels of melatonin but higher levels of stress neurochemicals, i.e. norepinephrine in the gastrointestinal tract. This resulted in several changes in gut health including decreased antioxidant capacity, up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and down-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines injuring the gut mucosal barrier and causing dysbiosis of the gut microbiome.
Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke
Sleep deprivation or difficulty maintaining quality sleep is associated with an increased risk for high blood pressure. Furthermore, sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and others are associated with increased risk of heart attacks, coronary artery calcification, and deadly cardiovascular events.
Chronic Kidney Disease, Kidney Failure
Poor quality sleep and sleep deprivation are underrecognized risk factors for chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. Kidney function becomes strained with chronic sleep deprivation. This is due to the adverse metabolic strain with blood sugar metabolism, salt sensitivity, heart rate, blood pressure, and autonomic nervous system function that impacts kidney function. As these physiological functions become altered with poor sleep, it affects long-term kidney function leading to chronic kidney disease.
Aging Skin and Wrinkles
It’s not your imagination—your skin can age from sleep deprivation. Studies have shown that skin hydration decreases after one day of sleep deprivation and continues to decline with chronic sleep deficits. Skin quality, texture, elasticity, frown lines, crow’s feet, and even the color of the skin can deteriorate within four days of sleep deficits as demonstrated in healthy adult women in their 40’s.
Increased Frailty in Older Adults
Older adults are more likely to become frail with poor quality sleep. Study results demonstrate that older adults who have trouble falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening, and/or lack restorative sleep have increased frailty.
Metabolism, Weight, and Insulin Resistance
Your metabolism is affected by insufficient sleep. Not only are you more likely to engage in emotional/binge eating and overeating, but insulin resistance also increases from sleep deficits.
A recent clinical trial in healthy women (ages 20-75 years) evaluated sleep and insulin sensitivity. For 6 weeks, women slept 6.2 hours per night – the average sleep duration in US adults with shortened sleep schedules. Results showed increased insulin resistance with insufficient sleep regardless of body weight. Post-menopausal women experienced a greater increase in insulin resistance than premenopausal women.
Other research shows that individuals who have substantial sleep deprivation or irregular sleep patterns during the week and then sleep in on the weekend for more than an hour experience increased risk of insulin resistance or are more likely to become obese.
Bone Density, TMJ Disorders, and Cartilage
Sleep deprivation even affects your musculoskeletal structure. New research published May 2026 demonstrated the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on bone density and architecture in mice. Results showed that after 3 months with inadequate sleep, bone became thinner and less dense impairing overall bone quality.
Initial studies suggest that sleep deprivation may contribute to the development of temporomandibular (TMJ) disorders. A breakdown in the cartilage of the jaw joint has been found to occur due to the higher amounts of stress hormones released with sleep deprivation.
Individuals with shift work or chronic sleep deprivation have a higher risk for osteoarthritis. Studies show that night shift workers are more likely to experience knee osteoarthritis and need knee replacement surgery. In addition, another cutting-edge study suggests a potential link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) causing the development of osteoarthritis and vice versa due to shared genetics.
Sleep Deprivation Affects Millions in the US
An estimated 1 in 3 adults in the United States are not getting enough rest or sleep every day. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health estimates that 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic or ongoing sleep disorders. Nearly 40% of adults report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month.
Sleep deficiency correlates with a higher chance of motor vehicle crashes with serious injury or death. It has been linked with other tragic accidents including plane crashes, grounding of large ships, nuclear reactor meltdowns, train crashes, and the explosion of the 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle.
It is tempting to stay up late to get things done, watch a favorite show, or scroll on your device and check social media and emails. These daily habits over time take a toll on your health. When you miss out on quality sleep, your body experiences a repair deficit impairing the performance of your whole body. Insufficient sleep is like not doing household chores and repairs – dishes, laundry and dust pile up, plumbing and roof repairs are ignored, and overtime even the building structure and electrical systems deteriorate.
Sleep is a modifiable risk factor. You can make changes to support sleep quantity and quality. Make it a top priority. It is a gift to yourself and to others.
Learn how to improve your sleep quality in our recent article, Wake Up Refreshed: Your Guide to Deep, Restorative Sleep
