The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states, about 1 in 3 adults in the United States reported not getting enough rest or sleep every day. An estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic, or ongoing, sleep disorders and 40% of people admit falling asleep at work or during the waking time of the day.

Sleep deprivation contributes to mental instability, an increase in overall inflammation and a decrease in overall heath and wellbeing. With more Americans developing chronic illnesses than ever it's important to look into how modern day living and sleep deprivation is contributing to this trend.

According to a recent published article in Cell Journal, prolonged sleep deprivation induces a cytokine-storm-like syndrome in mammals. Sleep deprivation increases levels of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) in the brain and pathological consequences in the peripheral immune system. To simplify a complex topic, a cytokine-storm is a life threatening inflammatory syndrome involving elevated circulating immune response cells. Some symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure and headaches. When mice were deprived of sleep for 4 days they showed an increase in the PGD2 and many other inflammatory cells, causing death.

This study stresses the importance of creating a healthy and supportive lifestyle to reduce the risk of stress related illnesses. Learning tools like yoga, meditation and sound therapy may help improve sleep quality and reduced the risk of stress related illness.

Sang D, Lin K, Yang Y, Ran G, Li B, Chen C, Li Q, Ma Y, Lu L, Cui XY, Liu Z, Lv SQ, Luo M, Liu Q, Li Y, Zhang EE. Prolonged sleep deprivation induces a cytokine-storm-like syndrome in mammals. Cell. 2023 Dec 7;186(25):5500-5516.e21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.10.025. Epub 2023 Nov 27. PMID: 38016470.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation