X, Y, and Zzzzzz…

As a sleep-deprived college student, I am often forced to reconsider my habits when I stumble on news about the benefits of sleep. This happened recently when I came across a study finding that poor sleep is associated with dietary factors that can increase women’s risk for heart disease and obesity.

Interested in and slightly terrified by this link, I delved deeper into the myriad benefits of sleep that I had heard about but often ignored. These include improved memory, better mood, reduced effect of stress hormones, and enhanced functioning of the immune system. Our lives can be so busy, and it can be hard to stop and lie unconscious for hours at a time. But as I read more, I began to realize that I simply need to prioritize sleep in my life.

Thanks to the training I’ve receive at Women’s Health Research at Yale, I immediately began to wonder about what sex-and-gender differences might exist involving sleep. Sure enough, just as there are sex-and-gender differences in numerous physiological processes and behaviors ranging from pain and thermoregulation to addiction, it appears as though sex and gender influence how women and men experience their slumber.

For example, women are not only at higher risk for insomnia than men, but women also report experiencing poorer sleep quality than men. In addition, women are more likely than men to experience sleeping difficulties and feel sleepy during the day. Researchers have produced evidence that estrogen levels are particularly to blame, with women experiencing heightened sleep disturbances during certain points of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause.

In light of the research demonstrating women’s vulnerability to sleep problems, I grew particularly alarmed by findings that show poor sleep may be more detrimental for women. For example, there is evidence to suggest that poor sleep is more strongly associated with an increased risk of diabetes and hypertension in women than men. I was very surprised to find that sleep deprived women have poorer cognitive focus than sleep-deprived men. Ironically, despite the severity of sleep deficits in women, sleep disorders like narcolepsy are underdiagnosed in women, as revealed by a study by Dr. Christine Won, director of the Women’s Sleep Health Program at Yale.

While I was able to find information on sex-and-gender differences in sleep that I was not expecting, the picture is far from complete. For example, we still do not know exactly how much more sleep per night women may need than men. As with so many aspects of health, we need research focused on sex and gender to reveal answers to important questions like these so we can adjust our habits and improve our lives.