Researchers say that people who experience frequent interrupted sleep at night are at similar health risk as people who don't get sleep at all.
Something is better than nothing right? Not in the case of sleep. Researchers from the American Friends of Tel Aviv University found that interrupted sleep at night was as bad for health as no sleep. It may lead to a decline in cognitive abilities, shortened attention spans and negative moods.
"The sleep of many parents is often disrupted by external sources such as a crying baby demanding care during the night. Doctors on call, who may receive several phone calls a night, also experience disruptions," the study authors said in a press statement. "These night wakings could be relatively short -- only five to ten minutes -- but they disrupt the natural sleep rhythm. The impact of such night wakings on an individual's daytime alertness, mood, and cognitive abilities had never been studied. Our study is the first to demonstrate seriously deleterious cognitive and emotional effects."
Using wristwatch-like devices, researchers monitored a group of participants' sleep patterns. The device made records of when they were asleep and when they were awake. The study subjects were allowed to sleep peacefully for eight hours on one night. The following night they were woken up four times by phone calls. Each time they woke up, they were asked to complete an assessment test (of 15 minutes) and then allowed to go back to sleep. Next morning, the participants were made to take another test to assess their alertness and attention. They were also asked to fill out questionnaires to determine their mood.
"Our study shows the impact of only one disrupted night," said the researchers. "But we know that these effects accumulate and therefore the functional price new parents -- who awaken three to ten times a night for months on end -- pay for common infant sleep disturbance is enormous. Besides the physical effects of interrupted sleep, parents often develop feelings of anger toward their infants and then feel guilty about these negative feelings."
Most of us need around eight hours of good quality sleep at night to function properly - but some need more and some less. What matters is that you find out how much sleep you need and then try to achieve it. CDC has issued general guidelines on how much sleep a person needs, depending on age.
As a general rule, if you wake up tired and spend the day longing for a chance to have a nap, it's likely that you're not getting enough sleep. A variety of factors can cause poor sleep, including health conditions such as sleep apnoea. But in most cases it's a matter of bad sleeping habits.
Not getting adequate sleep also has many health consequences like diabetes, heart diseases, depression, anxiety and low fertility. According to a Harvard University study, getting enough sleep keeps obesity at bay.
The current study was published online in the journal Sleep Medicine.
