Interconnections Chart

Tobacco Use

"A new study shows that smoking disrupts sleep in two ways. First, as bedtime approaches, the smoker has a final "relaxing" smoke before retiring. That smoke may seem relaxing, but nicotine (the drug found in tobacco) is actually a stimulant, and smoking that cigarette is almost as sleep disrupting as drinking a cup of coffee. But smoking disrupts sleep in yet another way. During the night, you go hours without a cigarette. This leads to discomfort and mild withdrawal, making it difficult to fall into a deep sleep. The light sleep is not sufficient for the smoker to awake refreshed (and struggle with his smoker's cough) in the morning" (Cardinal).

"Loss of sleep may impair the ability to abstain from drug use, through any of a number of mechanisms. Sleep loss may increase drug use by impairing attention and inhibitory control, increasing the value of drug rewards over other rewards, or by inducing mood states that facilitate use of a drug" (Hamidovich).

"Sleep-deprived high school students are more likely to sustain injuries -- often due to risky behaviors -- than those who are well rested, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. In a study of more than 50,000 students, researchers found that those teens who got seven hours of sleep or less on school nights were more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as not wearing a seat belt, riding with a drinking driver, and drinking and driving" (Reinberg).

A study conducted on Korean adults showed,"This research found that either a decrease or increase in sleep duration was associated with an increased risk for injury. The concept of proper sleep duration can be evaluated by its associated injury risk" (Kim, et al).

"HIV-associated infections can also interfere with sleep patterns as they activate certain proteins that regulate sleep patterns While it is still unclear to what degrees these proteins can affect us, it does support the early start of antiretroviral therapy in order to reduce the overall burden of untreated infection"(Cichocki).

A 2015 study published in the journal AIDS and Behavior found the following:
"Forty-one percent could not fall asleep within half an hour three or more times per week
Fifty-seven percent woke in the middle of the night or early morning three or more times per week
Thirty-three percent had bad dreams at least once per week" (Reed).

"An emerging body of research is providing yet another reason to ensure that teens get enough sleep: the significant link between sleep patterns during middle and high school and the risk of substance use. CASA Columbia's analysis of national data for its study, Adolescent Substance Use: America's #1 Public Health Problem, found that high school students who reported getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night were significantly more likely than those who slept 8 hours or more to be current users of tobacco (22% vs. 15%), alcohol (46% vs. 34%), and marijuana (23% vs. 17%) and lifetime users of illicit drugs (16% vs. 11%)" (Richter).

"Observational studies of young adolescents have found a strong correlation between sleeping difficulties and subsequent drug/alcohol abuse. A more recent study confirmed these findings. Adolescents who slept less were more likely to go on to engage in risky behaviors such as heavy drinking and drug use as older adolescents and young adults" (Rodriguez).

"Several studies have linked insufficient sleep and weight gain. For example, one study found that people who slept fewer than six hours per night on a regular basis were much more likely to have excess body weight, while people who slept an average of eight hours per night had the lowest relative body fat of the study group"(Sleep and Health).

"A 2012 Mayo Clinic study compared the eating habits of people who slept as much as they needed to those who only logged two-thirds of their required rest time for eight days, and found that subjects who were sleep-deprived ended up eating an average of 549 extra calories each day" (Hall).