You know that you should be getting seven to nine hours of sleep every night. But there are nights you spend out on the town, nights you finish watching the late game and nights when you just can’t count enough sheep to fall asleep. We get it. We have all been there and it really isn’t that big a deal, unless you are skipping out on sleep night after night and it starts to affect your life. Many of you think that you won’t have any long-lasting effects beyond feeling a little tired. But that is just not true. Though you might think that getting five hours of sleep a night while you are on the road is nothing to worry about, you need to learn what sleep deprivation does to you.Big Truck Hoods, your source for aftermarket truck bumpers, offers the surprising and serious effects of sleep loss. It Impairs Judgement A lack of sleep can affect your interpretations of an event. It hurts your ability to make a sound judgment because you might not be assessing the situation accurately. People who are sleep deprived are prone to poor judgment, especially when it comes to assessing your lack of sleep. In a world where people boast about their workload, functioning on very little sleep is a badge of honor for some. There are studies that found people who don't get enough sleep think that they simply adapt to sleep deprivation. Unfortunately, this is not at all true. Weight Gain If you are noticing a little weight gain, it could be due to sleep deprivation. Studies show a lack of sleep is related to hunger and appetite. People who sleep fewer than six hours a night are 30% more likely to become obese than those who sleep seven to nine hours a night.Not only does sleep loss stimulate appetite, but it also stimulates a craving for high-carb and high-fat foods. You Will Forget If you need to be on the top of your game, make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleepiness makes you forgetful. It Can Cause Depression Over time, a lack of sleep can contribute to the symptoms of depression. Studies show that people who are diagnosed with depression were more likely to sleep less than six hours a night.Insomnia and depression feed off of each other. So depression makes it even harder for you to fall asleep. And then you become even more sleep deprived, which aggravates your depression. It is a vicious cycle. Kills Sex Drive Researchers conclude that men and women who are sleep deprived have lower libidos and are less interested in sex.That right there should motivate most of you to get enough sleep every night. Serious Health Problems Chronic loss of sleep can put you at a higher risk for heart failure, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and a heart attack. Upwards to 90% of people who suffer from sleep deprivation also have other health conditions. Sleep Loss Makes You Dumb We’re not going to mince words; sleep deprivation makes you dumb. Sleep plays a critical role in learning and thinking. When you fail to get enough sleep, it will impair your alertness, reasoning and problem-solving skills and concentration. As a result, it makes learning more difficult. It Ages Your Skin If you miss a few nights of full sleep, you might experience puffy eyes and sallow skin. Chronic sleep loss will lead to dark circles under the eyes and lackluster skin.When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more cortisol, the stress hormone. In excess amounts, cortisol breaks down skin collagen, which just happens to keep your skin smooth and elastic. Increased Risk of Death A study published in 2007 found that people who consistently got fewer than seven hours of sleep a night nearly doubled their risk of death from a number of causes. It was noted that a lack of sleep doubled the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. It Causes Accidents Some of the biggest disasters in recent history were caused by sleep deprivation. For example, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the nuclear incident at Three Mile Island and the meltdown at Chernobyl were all at least partly caused by sleep deprivation.So make sure you are getting enough sleep while you are on the road. And don’t forget to order your semi truck parts from Big Truck Hoods.
