Getting enough sleep protects

How much sleep people need depends primarily on their age. While Babys still spend 16 to 18 hours a day sleeping, school-age children and adolescents only need an average of nine and a half hours a night. In adulthood, the required sleep duration is seven to a maximum of nine hours. Healthy sleep is characterised by a sufficient length and a sequence without interruptions so that the body can go through the various sleep stages several times a night without being disturbed. However, healthy sleep cannot be taken for granted.

In Germany, every second adult gets no more than six hours of sleep per night. In other Western countries, too, the average amount of sleep has been falling for several years and the number of people suffering from sleep deprivation has increased. Experts are observing this development with concern, as a maximum of six hours of sleep per night is not enough in the long term.

A lack of sleep has a negative effect on most of the body’s systems. In addition to tiredness, symptoms such as irritability, lack of energy and slower thinking can be observed the very next day. Many people feel more hungry after a short night, a reduced feeling of fullness and an increased craving for carbohydrate-rich foods. Years of sleep deprivation increase the risk of heart disease, obesity and depression.

Recently, sleep deprivation has also increasingly become the focus of diabetes research. Studies have well documented that the risk of early type 2 diabetes increases as a result of short nights with five to six hours of sleep. A study by Uppsala University shows just how much. Study participants who got five hours of sleep per night were 64 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the following 12.5 years than test subjects with healthy sleep.

Lack of sleep is a problem for many people, especially during the week. At the weekend, people often try to make up for the lack of sleep. However, the brain cannot utilise these extra hours; it needs sufficient sleep at all times. However, it shouldn’t be too much either. Studies have shown that sleeping for too long - more than nine hours a night – also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.