Sleep protects brain from damage

11 Jan TNN

The contribution of a good night's sleep to health has only been understood in recent times. Experts have linked lack of sleep to a high risk for heart attacks, obesity and diabetes among others.

A new study from Sweden now sheds light on how sleep deprivation actually harms people's health. Researchers from Uppsala University found that one night of sleep deprivation increased the blood levels of molecules found only in the brain. They found higher levels of NSE and S-100B in the blood of volunteers who failed to get eight hours of sleep. The presence of these compounds, the said, indicated that lack of sleep could be lead to loss of brain tissue.

The study published in medical journal SLEEP looked at 15 normal-weight men; some were sleep deprived for a night while others managed to get eight hours of sleep. “We observed that a night of total sleep loss was followed by increased blood concentrations of NSE and S-100B. These brain molecules typically rise in blood under conditions of brain damage.