Overview of the impact of sleep monitoring on optimal performance, immune system function and injury risk reduction in athletes: A narrative review

Abstract

Sleep is essential for a range of physiological and mental functions in professional athletes. There is proof that athletes may experience lower quality and quantity of sleep. While adequate sleep has been shown to have restorative effects on the immune system and endocrine system, facilitate nervous system recovery and the metabolic cost of wakefulness, and play a significant role in learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity, which can affect sports recovery, injury risk reduction, and performance. Sports performance may suffer significantly from a lack of sleep, especially under maximal and long-term exercise. Due to the potential harm, these factors may do to an athlete's endocrine, metabolic, and nutritional health, sports performance is impacted by reduced sleep quality or quantity. There are several neurotransmitters associated with the sleep–wake cycle that have been discovered. They comprise cholinergic hormone, orexin, melanin, galanin, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid, histamine, and serotonin. Therefore, dietary modifications that affect the neurotransmitters in the brain also may affect sleep; particularly for athletes who require more physical and psychological recovery owing to the tremendous physiological and psychological demands placed on them during training and performance. This review explores the variables that influence the quantity and quality of sleep-in populations of athletes and assesses their possible effects. In addition, several recommendations for improving sleep are presented. Even though there has been much research on variables that impact sleep, future studies may highlight the significance of these aspects for athletes.

The Effect of Sleep on the Health and Dietary Behaviours of GAA Athletes

“…In elite athletes, a case-controlled study reported that poor sleep was associated with a greater risk for upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal symptoms [ 24 ]. Evidence has previously demonstrated a significant association between SHC and new injury risk in athletic populations; a study by Nobari and colleagues [ 34 ] involving 122 athletes discovered that <8 h of sleep per night increased the risk of injury by 65% [ 35 ]. While an explicit cause and effect cannot be determined from the nature of these findings, a clear reciprocal relationship between the variables is apparent.…”