Sleep and long-term health Over the long run, insufficient sleep can also play havoc with our health. Indeed, sleep may be as important to health as are exercise and good nutrition. Lack of sleep, it appears, can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. In the first experiment ever to show the physiological consequences of sleep debt, Eve Van Cauter restricted the sleep of a group of healthy young men to four hours a night. After just six nights, their glucose metabolism resembled that of someone in the early stages of diabetes.
Growth hormone is secreted during deep, slow-wave sleep.
As we age, we spend less time in deep sleep, and secrete less growth hormone. All rights reserved.