(Maria Cohut/ Medical News Today) — Lack of sleep is just as dangerous as excessive drinking when it comes to activities such as driving. The breathalyzer can reliably measure a person’s state of intoxication, but there’s currently no way of assessing someone’s tiredness. New research may soon change that, however.
Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study that explained that sleep deprivation has the same negative effect on our brains as heavy drinking.
“[S]tarving the body of sleep also robs neurons of the ability to function properly,” the study’s senior author noted.
Lack of sleep can be dangerous when it comes to driving — as well as a huge obstacle in the way of productivity — but we don’t have an objective way of assessing it.
Recently, however, scientists at the Sleep Research Centre at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom have been developing a blood test that would enable them to evaluate biomarkers of sleep deprivation. (…)