It can actually put a strain on your heart
Ugh. Insomnia. There's one thing when you can't sleep and you feel like a total zombie the next day, but it reaches a whole new level when you think of all the bad sleep health affects that can come about after...
I mean, that's one way to give yourself sleep anxiety!
The University of Bonn in Germany conducted a study that demonstrates that one bad's night sleep will mean your heart needs to work 10% harder the next day.
Why? This is because a one night of disturbed sleep ups your heart rate and blood pressure and causes your body to release cortisol (the same hormone produced when you're stressed, too.)
The man behind the study, Dr Daniel Kuetting, was quoted by The Telegraph saying: 'For the first time, we have shown that short-term sleep deprivation in the context of 24-hour shifts can lead to a significant increase in cardiac contractility, blood pressure and heart rate.'
'The study was designed to investigate real-life work-related sleep deprivation. As people continue to work longer hours or work at more than one job to make ends meet, it is critical to investigate the detrimental effects of too much work and not enough sleep.'
But, don't worry, when you actually find out how much sleep you're actually meant to be getting, it's not as ambitious as you might think - and you will ultimately be fine (albeit groggy). And, since it's summer, why don't you try sleeping naked?
It's got a ridiculous amount of health benefits, after all.
Basically, try and do everything to sleep well but don't kick yourself if you don't because we've all been there.
