How Does Sleep Affect Your Kidney Health?

Sleep is important for lots of reasons, and lack of sleep or poor quality of sleep can have a big impact on your health and wellness. Though many people know poor sleep can lead to heart problems or make them more prone to colds and other illnesses, most don’t know poor sleep can take a toll on their kidney health, too.

Chadi Saad, MD, and the team at Nephrocare MD LLC, help patients improve their kidney health with medical treatment and lifestyle guidance, including improved sleep habits. Here, learn the interesting and important link between your sleep habits and your kidney health.

Sleep and your kidneys

Your body is designed to work on a 24-hour cycle, typically including a seven- to eight-hour period of sleep. This cycle helps your body divide up the workload of your kidneys, and when sleep is abbreviated or of poor quality, it affects your kidneys in a variety of ways.

Insulin resistance and glucose levels

Insulin is a hormone that helps your body regulate blood sugar. When you don’t get enough sleep, insulin levels decline, leaving glucose levels to rise. Over time, elevated glucose levels can damage your kidneys, interfering with their ability to work the way they should. Without treatment, uncontrolled high glucose can lead to diabetic nephropathy and, ultimately, kidney failure.

Blood pressure impact

Most people only think of the kidneys as filters that produce urine. Your kidneys also play a major role in regulating your blood pressure, and your blood pressure also has an impact on kidney health and function.

During sleep, blood pressure naturally decreases as your heart and blood vessels rest and relax. If you have poor sleep, though, your blood pressure tends to stay at or near daytime levels, putting added pressure on your kidneys. Eventually, this added strain can lead to kidney damage and chronic kidney disease over time.

Effect on inflammation

Sleep is also a time when your body repairs damaged tissues and manages inflammation. When you don’t get enough sleep, inflammation doesn’t have a chance to subside, increasing your risks of chronic kidney disease and other kidney problems.

Hormonal imbalances

Sleep is also a time for hormone regulation, and when you’re sleep deprived, your hormones suffer, too. Some hormones help your kidneys balance fluids, wastes, and salt. If their levels are out of balance, you can wind up retaining more fluid, leading to additional pressure on your kidneys. 

Over time, added strain can affect your kidneys’ ability to filter wastes from your body, causing additional damage in your kidneys and other organs.

Lowered immunity

Adequate sleep supports a strong immune system, so it makes sense that poor sleep or inadequate sleep takes a toll on your immune system, interfering with its ability to ward off diseases and infections. Lowered immunity means it’s easier to develop kidney infections that, in turn, can impair kidney function, particularly when they’re recurrent or not treated promptly.

Taking steps toward better kidney health

Sleep problems can promote kidney dysfunction and disease, and they can make existing disease worse, too. To learn how we can help you take steps to improve your kidney health, call 313-960-6605 or book an appointment online with Dr. Saad and our Nephrocare MD LLC team in Dearborn, Michigan, today.