Chronic sleep deprivation can weaken bones and increase the risk of osteoporosis, according to a rat study published in Experimental Biology and Medicine.
It is known that regular long-term insufficient sleep adversely affects human health and may hinder healthy aging.
Scientists from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee (USA) under the supervision of prof. Carol Everson studied the effects of sleep deprivation on bone health. To this end, they conducted experiments on rats which were regularly restricted in their sleep time over a 72-day period.
Then, in a densitometric study, the mineral density of bones collected from rodents was measured and their structure and processes were thoroughly analyzed.
It turned out that in animals regularly not getting enough sleep, the processes of bone tissue growth were inhibited and resorption increased. Ossein, ie the organic bone building component on the basis of which mineralization processes take place, was much thinner, and the number and activity of osteoblasts were lower than in the control group of rats. Rodents that slept too little also had a decrease in the mineral density of the femurs, indicating osteoporosis.
Researchers observed that abnormal changes also took place in the bone marrow. The amount of fat in it has decreased significantly, which suggests an intensification of the processes of blood cell formation (hematopoiesis). The number of cells (called megakaryocytes) that produce clotting-mediating platelets has doubled.
According to prof. Everson, the increased number of megakaryocytes suggests that there is an increased need for them in the body, possibly due to an inflammatory process. The researcher reminds that the overproduction of platelets can lead to their excess (thrombocytosis) and clotting disorders.
According to the authors of the study, these results indicate that chronic sleep deprivation negatively affects bone metabolism and the composition of the bone marrow, which in turn may cause various disorders during development or aging, interfere with the processes of bone tissue repair and healing and the formation of blood cells.
“If the same processes apply to humans, the medical consequences of sleep deficiency can be far-reaching, including poor repair of bone microdamages resulting from daily activities, initiation of the osteoporosis process and changes in hematopoietic cells that may predispose to various diseases” – emphasizes Prof. Everson.
As Dr. Steven R. Goldman, editor-in-chief of the journal “Experimental Biology and Medicine” wrote in the commentary on the article, nowadays, with the constantly increasing daily stress – related to work, financial issues and other issues – a large percentage of people experience sleep problems .
“While we recognize that chronic sleep deprivation can affect our health, there has been little information on how they affect bone formation and bone resorption. If this is the case in humans, and I expect it to be, this work will be hugely important to better understand the effects of sleep deprivation on the development of osteoporosis and on problems with bone damage repair as we age, ”added Dr. Goldman. (PAP)
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