Insomnia leads to loss of human brain cells

(sleepy.tv) - Insomnia is actually more serious than what we thought earlier, causing frequent loss of brain cells - according to a recent study.

>>>The danger of insomnia

Neuroscience published a test in mice, saying that prolonged lack of sleep led to the loss of the ability of 25% of brain storms.

If this is true for people, then continuing to suffer from insomnia can have serious consequences, US scientists said.

They expect that, one day, it could develop a drug that protects the brain from some unwanted effects of insomnia.

This study has done experiments on mice by forcing them to formulate insomnia forms similar to modern life, such as insomnia because of night shifts .

The University of Pennsylvania Medical School team conducted research on certain cells involved in alerting the brain.

After several days of testing samples of sleep patterns of workers, in just 3 working days of night shifts with 4-5 hours of sleep in 24 hours, mice lost 25% of human neurons . This is the first evidence to show that insomnia easily leads to loss of neurons in the brain.

However, scientists added that more experiments need to be done to make sure that people are at risk of being affected by the same damage as mice.

Professor Sigrid Veasey of the Center for Sleep Research and Neurobiology responded to the BBC interview: ' We have had evidence of irreversible damage of insomnia. It is only found on simple animals but it also opens a way for more thorough research to determine that on humans . '

She also said that the next step in the process will test the brains of night shift workers after they die to find evidence for the loss of brain cells.

Scientists are developing a drug to protect brain cells by using high doses of natural chemicals to restore sleep to insomnia.

Professor Hugh Piggins, of the University of Manchester, said that experiments on mice may be wrong with the human brain.

However, this study also plays an important role in finding positive evidence of the serious harm of insomnia. It is the first steps to prove the effects on people, thereby, provide more effective solutions to human health.