The Effect of too much sleep — hyperinsomnia

“As college students, we often complain that we have not gotten enough sleep on any given night. We drink copious amounts of caffeine in order to stay awake and finish that paper. Many times, we compensate for a lack of sleep at night by taking naps after (and sometimes during) our classes. This behavior might be recognized as “normal” by many teenagers and young people. However, many college-aged people suffer from sleep disorders. The most commonly recognized among these is insomnia, or the inability to obtain an adequate amount of sleep. But often overlooked and potentially harmful is hypersomnia. Although we rarely identify it as a negative condition, many of us actually get too much sleep.

Hypersomnia is defined as excessive daytime sleepiness and/or nighttime sleep. Humans sleep for an average of eight hours a night. Those with hypersomnia may find themselves sleeping for over ten hours at a time. (2) The most common symptoms are napping at inappropriate times, difficulty waking up, anxiety, irritability, restlessness and fatigue. Some more serious symptoms may include hallucination, loss of appetite, memory loss, or the inability to hear, see, taste, or smell things accurately. The disorder can have a profound effect on one’s ability to cope in social situations. (1) There is a range of possible causes for the condition, but the primary cause is described as abnormalities that occur during sleep or abnormalities of specific sleep functions. (2)“

(Source, for full article see: :http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/lupdegrove.html)

“but very little is known about the effects of sleeping more than eight hours a night.”
(http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/84/98092.htm)

The research indicates that too much sleep(7-8 hours is ideal..anything else is bad) is just as dangerous as too little sleep.

Too little sleep

• accelerate aging
• you are tired all the time
• you drop off during the day
• you find it difficult to concentrate
• you find it hard to make decisions
• you start to feel depressed.
•  Can lead to diabetes(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation#Diabetes) as it hurts the bodies ability to consume glucose

• leep deprivation was found to enhance activity on the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (which controls reactions to stress and regulates body functions such as digestion, the immune system, mood, sex, or energy usage) while suppressing growth hormones.  ==>Basically LOW SLEEP= SLOW GROWTH.
• According to a 2000 study published in the British scientific journal, researchers in Australia and New Zealand reported that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk Low sleep= nearly as impaired as a drunk person
• DEATH !!! “ In rats, prolonged, complete sleep deprivation increases both food intake and energy expenditure, leading to weight loss and, ultimately, death.”

School

In the United States, and in many other countries, sleep deprivation is common among students.^[35]. School aged children should be getting between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep^[36] but many do not. A National Sleep Foundation survey found that college/university-aged students get an average of 6.8 hours of sleep each night.^[37] Students get more sleep each night in the summer than during the school year,^[38] and one in four US high school students admit to falling asleep in class at least once a week.^[39]. Research has indicated that teenage children have a variation in their circadian cycle that delays sleep past the normal time for adults. Since school schedules are based around the adult workday, it is not surprising that students have difficulty obtaining adequate sleep. In 1997 the University of Minnesota did research that compared students who went to school at 7:15 and those who went to school at 8:40. They found that students who went to school at 8:40 got higher grades and more sleep on the weekdays.^[16]

Not affected by Lack of sleep

• Healing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation#Diabetes)

Too much sleep

. Hypersomnia does not refer to sleeping substantially more for a few nights or days after a period of sleep deprivation or unusual physical exertion. In such circumstances, extra sleep is a normal response.
(http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch081/ch081c.html)

Causes:

What Causes Hypersomnia?

There are several potential causes of hypersomnia, including:

• The sleep disorders narcolepsy (daytime sleepiness) and sleep apnea (interruptions of breathing during sleep)
• Not getting enough sleep at night (sleep deprivation)
• Being overweight
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• A head injury or a neurological disease, such as multiple sclerosis
• Prescription drugs, such as tranquilizers
• Genetics (having a relative with hypersomnia)
• Sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea
• Central autonomic nervous system dysfunction
• Side effect of medication
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Brain tumor
• Head injury
• Kleine-Levin syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes recurring periods of excessive sleeping, binge eating, irritability, disorientation and hypersensitivity to noise

Significant Side Effects ?

• low sex drive(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familywise_error_rate -unclear)
• dry mouth(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familywise_error_rate -unclear)
• dehydration(Source:forum SleepFilter)
• low blood pressure(Source:forum SleepFilter )
• creating feelings of excessive fatigue and being “worn out”.(http://britannia.com/science/sleep.html)

•  And women who slept nine hours or more were 38%
  more likely to experience heart problems than women who slept eight
  hours(http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=156359)

• long sleepers may be at a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)

Symptoms

• These abnormalities may include snoring and breathing pauses (which suggest obstructive sleep apnea) as well as grinding of teeth, kicking, and sleepwalking
• A gradually onset.
• You can feel the sleepiness coming on.
• It usually starts in the early twenties.
• It has been happening for at least three months.
• - Feeling unusually tired all the time
  - The need for daytime naps
  - Feeling drowsy, despite sleeping and napping
  - Difficulty thinking and making decisions: the mind feels “foggy”
  - Apathy
  - Memory or concentration difficulties
  - An increased risk of accidents, especially motor vehicle accidents

~ by pdna on February 16, 2008.