Most of us will be all too familiar with that groggy, groggy feeling of being tired after a restless night. However, some social media users have taken fatigue to the extreme, taking part in what they call the “no sleep challenge”.
A 19-year-old YouTuber, Norme, live-streamed his attempt to break a world record for consecutive days without sleep.
At 250 hours, viewers expressed concerns about Norme’s health and well-being, but he eventually ended up with a “sleepless” time of 264 hours and 24 minutes.
Norme’s effort got him banned from social media platforms YouTube and Kick. But despite his claims to have beaten the world record, his attempt was not enough to beat the last Guinness record holder, Robert McDonald, who clocked up 453 hours – almost 19 days! – in 1986.
In 1997, Guinness World Records stopped monitoring the record for the longest time without sleep for safety reasons – and they were very right. Being sleep deprived for long periods of time can be extremely dangerous.
Adults should aim for more than seven hours of sleep per night on a regular basis. Chronic inability to get enough sleep is linked to increased risk of many conditions such as depression, diabetes, obesity, heart attack, hypertension and stroke.
Sleep is an important part of our daily routine. It allows many of our body systems to rest and focus on repair and recovery.
During the first three stages of sleep, the parasympathetic nervous system—which regulates rest and digestion—takes over. This reduces heart rate and blood pressure.
In the final stage, the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, the heart’s activity increases and the eyes move – this stage is key to cognitive functions such as creativity, learning and memory. Consuming alcohol or caffeine before bed can disrupt these sleep cycles.
Lack of sleep can be acute or chronic. Acute withdrawal can occur within a day or two.
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Although it may seem like a short period of time, 24 hours of sleep deprivation can cause a greater degree of functional impairment than being slightly over the drink-drive limit.
Symptoms of acute sleep deprivation may include puffy or dark under-eyes, irritability, cognitive decline, brain fog, and food cravings.
During the second day without sleep, symptoms increase in intensity and behavioral changes occur, as well as a further decline in cognitive functions. The body’s need for sleep becomes stronger, causing “microsleeps” – involuntary naps that last about 30 seconds.
The body’s need for food increases, as well as physiological responses such as systemic inflammation and impaired immune response, making us more susceptible to disease.
The third 24-hour period can cause a desperate desire to sleep, increasing the likelihood of longer microsleeps, depersonalization—the feeling of disconnection from reality—and hallucinations.
Once on the fourth day of insomnia, all symptoms become much worse progressing to sleep deprivation psychosis, where you are unable to interpret reality and have a painful desire to sleep.
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Recovery from sleep deprivation varies from person to person, with a solid night’s sleep sufficient for some to recover. For others it may take days or weeks.
However, studies have shown that recovery sleep often does not reverse the metabolic changes that can cause weight gain and decreased insulin sensitivity, even from relatively short periods of sleep deprivation.
Shift workers can be constantly sleep deprived. Night shift workers typically sleep an average of one to four hours less per day than people whose work hours fall within daylight hours – and this can increase the risk of early death.
In fact, many studies have shown that poor sleep is associated with an increased risk of death. But too much sleep has also been associated with an increased risk of death.
It’s better for your health, then, to avoid social media challenges and instead opt for good sleep hygiene to get your seven to nine hours of quality shut-eye. Your body will thank you for it.
Adam Taylor, Professor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre, Lancaster University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.