Vital Body Processes Occur During Sleep

During sleep, your body is busy

• Repairing tissues
• Fighting off infections
• Forming memories of experiences that occurred during the day

If you do not get adequate sleep, you could experience health effects such as

• Disruption of insulin/blood glucose system, promoting insulin resistance
• Increased appetite, resulting in overeating and weight gain
• Impaired mental functioning (see ‘Identify Responder Fatigue’ in Section VII for the types of impairment that could occur)

Sleep loss can also weaken the immune system by

• Reducing the proper function of cells that attack cancer cells and viruses
• Increasing the inflammatory response, which increases the risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders such as diabetes
• Reducing production of antibodies, thereby increasing the risk for infection