Skip to content
EntityQ1364801· pop 37· linked from 670 articles

sleep deprivation

Sign in to save

Also known as sleep-deprived, sleep insufficiency, sleeplessness, sleep deficiency, sleep loss, deprivation of sleep, lack of sleep, inadequate sleep

condition of not having enough sleep

Key facts

Other names
Sleeplessness, sleep insufficiency
Specialty
Sleep medicine
Symptoms
Fatigue , eye bags , poor memory, irritable mood, weight gain
Complications
Car and work accidents, weight gain, cardiovascular disease
Causes
Insomnia , sleep apnea , stimulants (caffeine, amphetamine), voluntary imposition (school, work), mood disorders
Treatment
Cognitive behavioral therapy , caffeine (to induce alertness), hypnotics

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

18,310 papers

via PubMed

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommendations for the amount of sleep needed decrease with age.

Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the health condition of not having adequate duration or quality of sleep to support proper alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity. This means it can happen over both short and long periods of time. Sleep is important because adequate sleep, or restful sleep, is essential for maintaining overall health, brain performance, emotional regulation, and metabolic balance. Persistent sleep insufficiency can contribute to cognitive decline, emotional instability, and biological wear that has effects similar to accelerated aging. Scientific research demonstrates that inadequate sleep produces chronic consequences for overall health, ranging from attentional lapses to long-term neurodegenerative changes.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “sleep deprivation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.