General sleep advice - Importance of sleep for the brain and body

Getting a good nights sleep is so important to our overall health and prioritising it is vital.
Here is a summary of what can be affected when we are sleep deprived. 

- Memory consolidation is impaired, - you wont store all the new memories you have made in a day. 

- Increase your risk for dementia and Alzheimer's - Deep sleep helps clear out a toxin protein in the brain called Beta Amaloid, which has an impact on developing Alzheimer's disease. 

- Reproductive system in men is affected - Levels of testosterone drop when we are sleep deprived. 

- Your immune system is compromised - Not only will this affect your risk of getting sick, from everyday colds and flu,  being sleep deprived means you are at a potential risk of developing cancer. 

- Risk of stroke and heart attack increase - Sleep helps lower our blood pressure, and when we are sleep deprived our blood pressure can increase, which increases our risk of cardiovascular disease. 

- Increased risk of depression and anxiety -  deep sleep helps quieten down the sympathetic nervous system which our fight, flight or freeze system. When we are sleep deprived our Amygdala our emotional centre is 60% more reactive than when we have had the recommended 7-9 hours good quality sleep per night. 

Increased risk of obesity - Sleep affects our hunger hormones when we are sleep deprived our body increases the hormone Ghrelin (our hunger hormone) and decreases the hormone Leptin ( our satiety hormone) meaning we eat more. Obesity can lead to further complications with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

For more information and an info-graphic view: 
Check out this great video on how sleep impacts your brain and body here