A new study in rats found that in addition to affecting our performance, the immune and nervous systems, inadequate sleep can also affect bone and bone marrow health.
The results of the study, which were published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine, showed that in rats deprived of sleep, the bone mineral density decreased, which, researchers say, indicates the presence of osteoporosis. These rats also had significantly less fat in the bone marrow compared to their fully rested counterparts, and the number of megakaryocytes, i.e. bone marrow cells that produce platelets, doubled. All this indicates a change in bone marrow plasticity.
"Taken together, these results show that chronically inadequate sleep affects bone metabolism and bone marrow composition in such a way that it has negative consequences for the development, aging, healing and restoration of bone tissue, as well as for the differentiation of blood cells," write researchers in their work.
“If this is true for people, and I expect it to be so, this study will have a big impact on our understanding of how lack of sleep can cause osteoporosis. We also hope to get an answer to the question of why bone tissue is damaged with age.” more and more difficult to recover, "said the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Dr. Stephen R. Goodman.
