Sleep deprivation is a common symptom of a “drop in fatty acids” according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

There are two major compounds that plays a vital role during “slumber”, the lack of these two compounds results in a depleted metabolism and leads to sleep deprivation.

A study was done at the University of Pennsylvania by Amita Sehgal who tried to find out a marker of sleep to test truck drivers and pilots.

Amita Sehgal’s research was geared towards people who work long hours

A dependable indicator of sleep could be used to test if pilots, truck drivers and other people who hold jobs with long hours are sufficiently well rested

says coauthor Amita Sehgal

Sleep deprivation is known to cause problems, mainly on the individual’s performance. This includes memory, attention and overall cognitive functions. Sleep deprivation is also known to be related to Diabetes, heart problems and many other health related issues.

Amita Sehgal took blood samples from people who have had only four hours of sleep in a span of 5 nights, the results showed that two major compounds were decreased significantly which caused the depletion of the metabolism. One was acid ( a by-product of the metabolism) and the other one was a fat which helps in storing energy and balances hormones.

Sehgal concluded that a full night’s sleep can get the levels of the two molecules up. Sehgals conclusion was backed up by her test result and has continued her research in this field.