Is a full eight hours sleep just a distant dream? As the time of year for late nights approaches – otherwise known as parties – lack of sleep becomes more of an issue than usual. Thankfully, the effects aren’t always cause for nightmares…

Sleep. The one thing most of us claim we don’t get enough of. And yet, when the festive season gets in full swing, we don’t give a damn. Burning the candle at both ends becomes de rigueur. In bed before midnight? Never. Up with the lark for work? No problem. It’s the party season and, whatever your age – as Ms Lauper told us in the 80s – us girls just want to have fun.

So, take last night for example. Did you get a solid eight hours of blissful uninterrupted sleep? We thought not. And how about the night before? At this time of year, most British women are getting by on an average of six and a half hours a night. But is this the health disaster that we’ve been led to believe it is? Grab the matchsticks, prop your eyelids open and find out…

We all know what lack of sleep does to us as individuals. Some of you might be faced with the odd dark circle under your eyes, some might develop a rather shorter temper than usual, while others get away with a mere yawn here and there.
It’s drilled into us to aim for eight hours’ sleep a night, but this isn’t always needed. Professor Adrian Williams, sleep director at the London Sleep Centre, explains: ‘The average amount of sleep we need is 8.1 hours, but this is the average; half the population need more while the other half need less. The range is six to 10 hours. We tend to sleep an extra two hours at the weekend to make up for a lack in the week.’

What’s your magic number?
So, how do you know how much sleep you need to be at your best?

‘The amount of sleep we need is individual – it’s genetically determined,’ continues Adrian. ‘You can’t modify that, you can’t practise short sleep. If you need six, great; if you need 10, that’s what you need.’

Adrian adds, however, that around nine months ago, the gene (DEC2) for short sleep was identified in America. ‘There was a family in which the mother and one child regularly slept for six hours and the rest of the family regularly slept for just under eight hours. They looked at their DNA and found a change in one of the clock genes. This gene was then put into a mouse and the mouse became a six hour mouse, rather than an eight hour mouse.’

Can't sleep, won't sleep? If you have problems sleeping, then it’s important that you get up at a regular time every day. ‘People with sleep disorders, such as insomnia, need regular exposure to light and should not spend too much time in bed. One of the treatments for insomnia is to restrict time in bed,’ says Adrian.

The effects of lost sleep
Missed kip, whether it be on a short-term basis, or a more regular occurrence, can result in different, and numerous effects that vary from person to person.

Sleepiness and daily functioning
‘The effects of lack of sleep are mainly on daytime performance, such as being forgetful or irritable, and sleepiness,’ says Adrian. ‘Any lack of sleep will tend to increase sleepiness and, certainly, when you’re down to four hours a night, you would expect to feel excessively sleepy the next day.
‘The effects of sleepiness are hugely varied. They might be inconsequential – from nodding off in front of your partner – or they might be much more dangerous, such as nodding off at the wheel of your car. Research has shown that getting less than six hours a night can affect coordination, reaction time and judgement. 40 % of motorway accidents are from people falling asleep at the wheel; not because of alcohol or drugs.’

Sleep deprivation can, in fact, have the same hazardous effects as being drunk. Dr Susan Higgins, a consultant sleep specialist based in France at the Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud and the Lyon Sleep Network (Hypnor) adds: ‘Studies suggest that 17 hours of wakefulness is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .05% in terms of performance. Therefore, if you’re awake for 24 hours, you’re legally drunk as far as your motor skills and reaction times are concerned.’

Susan adds: ‘It’s concerning that driving while drunk has become a social taboo, whereas driving while severely fatigued, which is just as dangerous, is considered acceptable.’

There are also medical effects, but some are considered controversial.

Diabetic warnings
‘Most experts in the field of sleep,’ says Adrian, ‘would argue that lack of sleep causes insulin resistance. There is evidence for this – on the North Sea oil rigs, people work shifts and after 10 days of night shifts, when they don’t get much sleep in the daytime, the oil rig workers are, as a group, statistically pre-diabetic. This means they’ve developed some insulin resistance and their glucose levels are slightly higher than they should be. Studies have also been carried out whereby volunteers are restricted to four hours sleep a night and they also become pre-diabetic.’

Lowering the health of your immune system
Your mother used to warn you that a lack of zzz’s meant you were laying yourself open to picking up coughs and colds. It’s more than just an old wives’ tale, though. ‘Studies have repeatedly shown that your immune system is compromised by lack of sleep,’ says Adrian. ‘In research where people’s sleep is restricted and then they are exposed to the cold virus, almost twice as many of those who’d had restricted sleep ended up with a cold, compared with those who hadn’t.’

Increased appetite
If you’re brave (or mad) enough to attempt staying up all night, be prepared for the munchies the next day. Total lack of sleep – even if it’s just a one off – results in appetite changes the following day.

‘Lack of sleep tends to generate an increased appetite because the appetite hormones (ghrelin and leptin) are altered,’ says Adrian. A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that women who slept seven hours or more put on less weight over a period of 16 years, than those women who slept less, even if the other women exercised. Women who slept just six hours a night were 12% more likely to put on 30lbs, while those who got just five hours or less were 32% more likely to gain that much. Further studies have also shown that having a higher BMI (body mass index) is also proportionally linked to less sleep.

So, if you’ve just done an all-nighter or you regularly lack on sleep, avoid reaching for the high-sugar snacks that will give you an energy high, but a rapid slump soon after, and instead opt for energy-giving snacks, such as nuts or a banana.

Fight the fatigue!
Remember, particularly at the moment, your lack of sleep is likely to be a seasonal, once-a-year, one off, so don’t panic. Bear these points in mind:

• You’ve been through periods of sleep deprivation before and survived – think back to those nights of interrupted sleep with your newborn or sleepless nights due to a new job or stressful time in your life or career.
• If you know you have a lot of late nights ahead, try to fit in a 20 minute daytime power nap. According to Dr James Maas, author of Power Sleep (£13, HarperCollins), ‘Napping is like fast food. It’s not ideal, but when your body is starving for sleep, it’s better than nothing.’
• To help improve your daytime performance, make lists – that way you don’t have to rely on your weary memory!
• Get active – it might feel exactly like what you don’t want to do, but exercise will actually boost your energy levels in the short-term.
• Plan a quiet January with lots of cosy evenings in.

Lorraine says... ‘If I want to get a good night’s sleep,I usually drink a mug of horlicks and have a bath with relaxing oils and candles.'

 Image: Getty