What would happen if you didn’t sleep? - Claudia Aguirre

Translator: Natalia Outerelo Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

In 1965, 17-year-old high school student, Randy Gardner

En 1965, o estudante de 17 anos, Randy Gardner

stayed awake for 264 hours.

permaneceu esperto durante 264 horas.

That's 11 days to see how he'd cope without sleep.

Once días para coñecer como reaccionaba sen durmir.

On the second day, his eyes stopped focusing.

O segundo día, a concentración visual diminuíu.

Next, he lost the ability to identify objects by touch.

Logo, perdeu a capacidade de recoñecer obxectos co tacto.

By day three, Gardner was moody and uncoordinated.

O terceiro día, estaba agresivo e desorientado.

At the end of the experiment, he was struggling to concentrate,

Ao final do experimento, tivo dificultades coa concentración,

had trouble with short-term memory,

coa memoria a curto prazo,

became paranoid,

volveuse paranoico

and started hallucinating.

e tiña alucinacións.

Although Gardner recovered without long-term psychological

Aínda que se recuperou sen dano psicolóxico

or physical damage,

nin físico,

for others, losing shuteye can result in hormonal imbalance,

para outras persoas, o insomnio pode provocar desaxustes hormonais,

illness,

enfermidades

and, in extreme cases, death.

e incluso a morte.

We're only beginning to understand why we sleep to begin with,

Aínda estamos empezando a entender por que precisamos durmir,

but we do know it's essential.

mais sabemos que é esencial.

Adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night,

As persoas adultas precisan durmir de 7 a 8 horas

and adolescents need about ten.

e os adolescentes preto de 10 horas.

We grow sleepy due to signals from our body

Precisamos durmir cando o noso corpo envía sinais

telling our brain we are tired,

de que o noso cerebro está canso

and signals from the environment telling us it's dark outside.

e cando vemos que está escuro fóra.

The rise in sleep-inducing chemicals,

O aumento de substancias químicas que inducen o sono,

like adenosine and melatonin,

coma a adenosina ou a melatonina,

send us into a light doze that grows deeper,

axúdanos a ter un soño lixeiro que se fai máis profundo

making our breathing and heart rate slow down

mentres a respiración e a frecuencia cardíaca diminúen

and our muscles relax.

e os nosos músculos se relaxan.

This non-REM sleep is when DNA is repaired

O ADN repárase na etapa non REM

and our bodies replenish themselves for the day ahead.

e o corpo recupera a enerxía para o día seguinte.

In the United States,

Nos Estados Unidos de América,

it's estimated that 30% of adults and 66% of adolescents

estímase que o 30 % dos adultos e o 66 % dos adolescentes

are regularly sleep-deprived.

sofren de insomnio.

This isn't just a minor inconvenience.

Isto é sumamente importante.

Staying awake can cause serious bodily harm.

Estar tantas horas esperto pode causar danos corporais graves.

When we lose sleep,

Cando durmimos pouco,

learning,

a aprendizaxe,

memory,

mood,

a memoria,

o ánimo

and reaction time are affected.

e o tempo de reacción vense afectados.

Sleeplessness may also cause inflammation,

A falta de sono pode causar inflamación,

halluciations,

alucinacións,

high blood pressure,

alta presión sanguínea

and it's even been linked to diabetes and obesity.

e relaciónase tamén coa diabetes e coa obesidade.

In 2014, a devoted soccer fan died

En 2014, un afeccionado ao fútbol morreu

after staying awake for 48 hours to watch the World Cup.

despois de pasar 48 horas esperto para mirar o Mundial.

While his untimely death was due to a stroke,

Aínda que a causa da morte foi un ataque ao corazón,

studies show that chronically sleeping fewer than six hours a night

os estudos din que durmir menos de 6 horas cada noite

increases stroke risk by four and half times

incrementa o risco dun derramo cerebral

compared to those getting a consistent seven to eight hours of shuteye.

comparado con durmir entre 6 ou 7 horas.

For a handful of people on the planet who carry a rare inherited genetic mutation,

Para quen herdou unha mutación xenética,

sleeplessness is a daily reality.

a falta de sono é unha realidade diaria.

This condition, known as Fatal Familial Insomnia,

Coñécese como «insomnio familiar fatal».

places the body in a nightmarish state of wakefulness,

O corpo mantense nun estado de vixilia constante,

forbidding it from entering the sanctuary of sleep.

que lle impide durmir placidamente.

Within months or years,

Co paso dos meses ou anos,

this progressively worsening condition leads to dementia and death.

a enfermidade pode agravarse dando lugar á demencia ou á morte.

How can sleep deprivation cause such immense suffering?

Como pode o insomnio causar isto?

Scientists think the answer lies with the accumulation of waste prducts

Os científicos sinalan que se debe á acumulación de residuos químicos

in the brain.

no cerebro.

During our waking hours,

Cando estamos espertos,

our cells are busy using up our day's energy sources,

as células consomen as fontes de enerxía,

which get broken down into various byproducts,

que se descompoñen en varios produtos,

including adenosine.

coma a adenosina.

As adenosine builds up,

Coa acumulación da adenosina,

it increases the urge to sleep, also known as sleep pressure.

aumenta a necesidade de durmir, coñecida como presión do sono.

In fact, caffeine works by blocking adenosine's receptor pathways.

A cafeína actúa bloqueando as vías dos receptores da adenosina.

Other waste products also build up in the brain,

Tamén se xeran outros residuos no cerebro

and if they're not cleared away, they collectively overload the brain

que, ao non eliminarse, sobrecargan o cerebro

and are thought to lead to the many negative symptoms of sleep deprivation.

e son a causa dos síntomas negativos do insomnio.

So, what's happening in our brain when we sleep to prevent this?

Que ocorre no cerebro cando durmimos para evitar isto?

Scientists found something called the glymphatic system,

Os científicos descubriron o chamado sistema glinfático,

a clean-up mechanism that removes this buildup

un mecanismo de limpeza que elimina esa acumulación

and is much more active when we're asleep.

e que é máis activo cando durmimos.

It works by using cerebrospinal fluid to flush away toxic byproducts

A través do líquido cefalorraquídeo, drénanse as substancias tóxicas

that accumulate between cells.

que se acumulan entre as células.

Lymphatic vessels, which serve as pathways for immune cells,

Os vasos linfáticos, que serven de ruta de acceso ás células inmunes,

have recently been discovered in the brain,

descubríronse recentemente no cerebro

and they may also play a role in clearing out the brain's daily waste products.

e parece que tamén axudan ao cerebro a limpar estes residuos diarios.

While scientists continue exploring the restorative mechanisms behind sleep,

Continúase investigando os procesos rexenerativos con respecto ao sono.

we can be sure that slipping into slumber is a necessity

Podemos estar seguros de que durmir é unha necesidade

if we want to maintain our health and our sanity.

para manter a nosa saúde física e mental.