Why sleep deprivation affects each of us differently

Losing sleep in favor of some good holiday fun a few times each year is nothing to worry about, but chronic sleep deprivation can have adverse health effects. Some of us are affected more than others, however, and new research helps us understand why.

With 50 to 70 million adults in the United States having a "sleep or wakefulness disorder," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider sleep deprivation a "public health concern."

As Medical News Today reports, sleep loss is especially alarming given its status as a significant risk factor for traffic accidents and medical mishaps, as well as posing a danger to one's health.

Insufficient sleep could increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, among others conditions.

Cognitively, sleep deprivation has a wide range of adverse effects. In fact, the CDC report that 23.2 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and above have trouble concentrating, and another 18.2 percent say that they have trouble remembering things as a result of losing sleep.

However, new research shows that the cognitive effects of sleep loss vary from person to person, and that these differences may be down to our genetic makeup.

Scientists led by Paul Whitney, who is a professor of psychology at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, found a genetic variation that explains why some people perform certain cognitive tasks a lot better than others after they have been sleep deprived.

The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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