How Poor Sleep Affects Adolescent Health

The body’s immune system is incredibly complex and fascinating. Molecules known as free radicals are produced in our bodies and can enter from the environment via many sources, including ultraviolet radiation, toxic chemicals, and polluted air. They have both positive and negative effects. On the positive side, they attack pathogens and help fight infections. But overproduction can create oxidative stress that damages cells and can cause disease. Antioxidants are molecules that keep free radicals in check and are found in vitamins A, C, and E. Our bodies also produce antioxidants, including glutathione, which is produced in the liver and is the most prevalent antioxidant in the brain.

One way to study the effects of sleep loss is through sleep deprivation studies. Participants volunteer to go without sleep for a predetermined time, and the effects are measured with various kinds of testing. Through this kind of research, we have learned that insufficient sleep has many negative effects in multiple domains. Our attention, concentration, and problem-solving are diminished. We become more irritable, stressed, and anxious. We may gain weight due to the disruption of leptin, which signals fullness after eating, and ghrelin, which influences appetite. The effectiveness of our immune system is lowered to make us more prone to illness.

Sleep deprivation studies are largely done with adults and only in limited situations for short periods of time with children and adolescents. Studies of sleep with younger people mostly look at naturally occurring sleep loss, comparing outcomes between those who sleep well and those whose sleep is poor. A study recently published in the journal Sleep by a group at the University of Utah School of Medicine has contributed to our knowledge of how poor sleep relates to compromised immune system functioning in adolescents. Researchers relied on the concept of social jet lag to estimate sleep loss. Social jet lag is a circadian misalignment that occurs when insufficient sleep during the school week or workweek is made up for by sleeping more on weekends. One metaphor is that one is paying off a sleep debt accrued over the previous days. The greater the difference between weekend and weekday sleep, the greater the social jet lag and sleep debt.

In the first study of its kind, participants’ brains were scanned by MRI, and levels of glutathione were measured through spectroscopy. Greater levels of sleep debt were significantly associated with diminished levels of the antioxidant glutathione in the anterior cingulate cortex, an area of the brain important for cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation. The results suggest a neurobiological explanation for how sleep loss compromises health in adolescence, which is a critical period for brain development.