What happens with your body when you sleep too little?

Sleep disturbances is today an everyday matter and something that should be taken seriously. To shut down and fall asleep easily in the evenings are challenging for both children and adults. Vi seek attention from the world around us and are expected to be reachable at all times. In the new so called 24-society the boundaries between work and leisure (and everything between) have been blurred, and this leads to less sleep. Still, sleep difficulties also have other causes like e.g. stress, worries, depression and illness. Or, children crying, telephones and honking cars.

When you sleep well, the pulse lowers, and our blood pressure and body temperature as well as the breathing calms down. Your body relaxes and any possible muscle tension will decrease. Without sleep our bodies simply cannot function properly. For short term our patience, concentration and also memory, our ability to learn, reaction time and creativity will become impaired.
If your sleep is disturbed systematically over a longer period of time the sleep deprivation can also lead to a weakened immune system, weight gain (urge to nibble increases and the metabolism weakens), diabetes and heart disease, depression and fatigue syndrome. Your belly can also be affected, resulting in an inflamed intestine and acid reflex. It also quite common to experience headache and migraine.

The clear correspondence between sleep quality and success in life and our life quality, is so dependent on our sleep that it should be highly prioritised. The duration of sleep needed vary and is different for each individual but about this much sleep is necessary at different ages:

0-1 years: 14-16 hours
1-3 years: 12-14 hours
3-9 years: 9-12 hours
9-14 years: 9-10 hours
14-18 years: 8-9 hours
18-20 years: 8 hours
30-60 years: 7-8 hours
60-70 years: 6,5-7 hours
>70 years: 6-6,5 hours