Elon Musk recently sparked an avalanche of backlash for declaring that he is too busy to sleep and survives on six hours of sleep each night.
Ariajna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post and author of the book "Revolution in Sleep", wrote him an open letter in which she points out that he thereby demonstrates an "outdated, unscientific and terribly inefficient way of using human energy".
Elon Musk responded by tweeting at 2:30 a.m. after coming home from the factory: “You think it's a choice. It's not.”
In the last few years, it seems that everyone is experiencing excessive stress, chronic lack of time and lack of sleep. And not only that, it's like we're trying to compete to see who is more stressed and who sleeps less.
Lack of sleep causes diseases
Business Insider emphasizes that lack of sleep can have serious consequences on our body and brain. Some of the consequences are weaker short-term and long-term memory, slower reactions, irritability, but they are not surprising because we have probably experienced them. But there are other, much more serious consequences.
Various studies have shown that lack of sleep is associated with an increased risk of some types of cancer, such as colon and breast cancer, as well as Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. Similarly, some studies have shown that sleep helps clear the brain of beta-amyloid protein that can build up when we're awake. It is a protein that is associated with Alzheimer's disease.
If you suffer from asthma, arthritis, Crohn's disease and some cardiovascular diseases, lack of sleep can significantly worsen them.
Lack of sleep also affects our social life. Researchers have found that young adults socialize less due to lack of sleep and are therefore more lonely. To make matters worse, lonely people don't sleep well, which can lead to a vicious cycle. Change your schedule and add at least one extra hour of sleep, reports the healthy cow.
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