By Barbara Bartlein

What do Matthew Mc Conaughey, Cameron Diaz and Warren Buffet have in common?  They all beieve strongly in the value of a good nights sleep.  It may surprise you to learn that chronic sleep deprivation significantly affects your health, performance, satety, and pocketbook.

Some of the consequences of missing your shuteye include:

• Decreased performance and alertness.  Reducing your nighttime sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
• Memory and cognitive impairment.  Decreased alertness will impair your memory and your ability to think and process information.
• Stress and relationship problems.  Let's face it, you just might be crabby.
• Poor quality of life.  You may be unable to participate in activities that requre attention or physical stamina.
• Occupational injury.  There is more than a twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury when fatigued.

Sleep just might make you more attractive as well. Swedish researcher say there's an important link between sleep and your physical appearance.  In a study in the British Medical Journal, researcher John Axelsson and his team at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that sleep-deprived individuals appear less healthy, more tired, and less attractive than those who have received a full night's worth of sleep.

"Sleep is the body's natural beauty treatment," Axelsson siad.  "It's probably more effective than any other treatment you could buy."