With late-night study sessions and loads of reading assignments, getting the right amount of sleep can be tough to do in college.

Although college students might think that sipping coffee can substitute for an adequate night of sleep, sleep deprivation can lead to numerous health problems.

Steven Weber, professor of neurology in the University of Wisconsin Medical School, said college students face several problems when sleep-deprived.

“It causes irritability and learning deficits — you learn more efficiently and readily with more sleep,” Weber said. “You can seriously inhibit your ability to perform and learn in school.”

Weber also pointed out that a lack of sleep might even promote weight gain if a person is sleep-deprived for an extended period of time, usually for more than a year. A person could gain 10 to 15 extra pounds.

“A lack of sleep might interfere with the hormones that are involved with metabolism. With a normal amount of sleep, sugars and starches are burned as energy,” Weber said, adding that if sleep is lacking, this pathway may be shunted, causing sugars and starches to turn into stored fat.

Weight gain is not the only problem that can come from sleep deprivation, for it can cause a host of other serious problems, too.

Dr. Steven Barczi, assistant professor of medicine and director of geriatric medicine fellowship at UW, notes that people of all ages can experience medical and psychiatric problems from a lack of sleep.

“It is well established that ongoing sleep restriction or deprivation can influence mood, predispose depressive illnesses, decrease attention and impair vigilance in certain tasks such as driving,” Barczi said.

Napping, one way many students deal with sleep deprivation, can be effective as long as naps don’t last for two or three hours every day, he said.

Weber compared extended periods of napping every day to experiencing a type of jet lag, which can interrupt natural sleep patterns.

“Napping helps, and can restore attentiveness and performance lapse. It can increase ability to pay attention,” Weber said. “However, students should budget up to 90 minutes for a nap — if it’s longer, it fools your body’s circadian rhythm, which is the body’s natural timing mechanism.”

UW students frequently feel the strain of not getting enough sleep.

UW senior Alexis Luskin cited jobs, schoolwork, internships and going out as obstacles he must overcome in order to get enough sleep.

“A lack of sleep doesn’t affect my grades, but it does affect my moods — it makes me lethargic. But when I try to nap, I lose out on activities I normally do,” Luskin said.

UW senior Adam Sorensen agreed, saying sleep deprivation has negative effects not only on his academics, but also on his character.

“A lack of sleep definitely affects me. After about three or four days, I can’t concentrate in class. If I go to work, I can get a little grumpy too,” Sorensen said.

To avoid sleep deprivation, Barczi suggests refraining from excessive caffeine after 4 p.m. and avoiding alcohol as a way to fall asleep. Weber and Barczi also agreed that students should establish regular rise times and bed times, even on the weekends.

Other ways that help the body fall asleep naturally include daytime sun exposure, late afternoon exercise and relaxation techniques.