LANSING — Weight gain, problems focusing and loss of cognitive skills are potential dangers of not getting enough sleep, northwestern Michigan experts say.

            “We definitely promote quality of sleep as a lifestyle choice,” Tammy Hickman, a pediatric nurse at Ironmen Health Center in Mancelona, says. “We strive to help people find balance in life. A combination of healthy eating, exercise and adequate sleep all go hand-in-hand.”

            Hickman says that if a specific sleep-related problem is raised, the concerned patient is directed to a specialist at a sleep center.

            One is the Northern Michigan Hospital Sleep Center in Petoskey.

            “Not recharging your batteries causes a loss in cognitive skills,” sleep physician Brian Bess says. “If you don’t sleep for 24 hours and drive, it’s worse than driving drunk.”

            Bess stresses the amount and quality of sleep, saying that strokes and heart attacks are sometimes caused by unreliable sleep patterns.

            Dwayne Griffin, the center’s medical director, adds to the list of problems caused by poor sleep habits.

            Falling asleep at work or in school and people over-consuming caffeine and carbohydrates are linked to lack of sleep.

“When you’re tired, you consume more carbohydrates because they offer short-term stimulation,” Griffin says.

Medical studies show that sleep and appetite are related. Levels of hunger hormone ghrelin are increased when the body is derived of sleep, while leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger, decreases.

Griffin recommends at least eight hours of sleep for adults and between nine and 11 hours for children. Otherwise, peak performance can’t be reached and mood is affected.

 “We especially encourage families with young children to establish sleep routines,” says Jane Sundmacher of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, which serves Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Ostego counties.