Good sleep is necessary for optimal health and can affect hormone levels, mood and weight. Sleep problems, including snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, sleep deprivation, and restless legs syndrome, are common.Getting enough sleep is essential for helping a person maintain optimal health and well-being. When it comes to their health, sleep is as vital as regular exercise and eating a balanced diet.
Modern-day living in the United States and many other countries does not always embrace the necessity for adequate sleep. Yet, it is important that people make an effort to get enough sleep regularly.
For example, surveys conducted by the NSF (1999-2004) reveal that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more. Most of those with these problems go undiagnosed and untreated. In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month — with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more. Furthermore, 69 percent of children experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.
Amount of sleep needed
Everyone’s individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)
Healthy Sleep Guide
1)Good Sleep Habits
2)Sleep Disorders
3)Other Sleep Problems
4)What Affects Sleep
5)Tests & Treatments
6)Tools & Resources
What causes sleep problems?
Psychologists and other scientists who study the causes of sleep disorders have shown that such problems can directly or indirectly be tied to abnormalities in the following systems:
Physiological systems
Furthermore, unhealthy conditions, disorders and diseases can also cause sleep problems, including:
Groups that are at particular risk for sleep deprivation include night shift workers, physicians (average sleep = 6.5 hours a day; residents = 5 hours a day), truck drivers, parents and teenagers. (American Academy of Sleep Medicine and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group on Problem Sleepiness. 1997).
The following are some of the many benefits health professionals associate with getting a good night’s rest.
1.Lower risk of heart disease
If you don't get enough sleep, you raise your risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. Those three things can raise your risk for heart disease. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Make sure that you have good sleep habits. If you have frequent sleep problems, contact your health care provider. One problem, sleep apnea, causes people to briefly stop breathing many times during sleep. This interferes with your ability to get a good rest and can raise your risk of heart disease. If you think you might have it, ask your doctor about having a sleep study. And if you do have sleep apnea, make sure that you get treatment for it.
2. Sleep improves your immune function
Even a small loss of sleep has been shown to impair immune function .
One large 2-week study monitored the development of the common cold after giving people nasal drops with the cold virus .
They found that those who slept less than 7 hours were almost 3 times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 hours or more.
If you often get colds, ensuring that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night could be very helpful. Eating more garlic can help as well.
SUMMARY
Getting at least 8 hours of sleep can improve your immune function and help fight the common cold.
3. Sleep affects emotions and social interactions
Sleep loss reduces your ability to interact socially.
One study found that people who hadn’t slept had a reduced ability to recognize expressions of anger and happiness .
Researchers believe that poor sleep affects your ability to recognize important social cues and process emotional information.
The association between sleep and mental health has been the subject of research for a long time. One conclusion is that there is a link between lack of sleep and depression.
A study appearing in JAMA Psychiatry examines patterns of death by suicide over 10 years. It concludes that lack of sleep is a contributing factor to many of these deaths.
Another study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatrysuggests that people with sleep disorders such as insomnia are likely to show signs of depression.
Similarly to gaining weight, there is evidence to suggest that getting a good night’s sleep can help a person consume fewer calories during the day.
For example, one study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America says that sleep patterns affect the hormones responsible for appetite.
When a person does not sleep long enough, it can interfere with their body’s ability to regulate food intake correctly.
The link between weight gain and obesity and short sleep patterns is not completely clear.
There have been several studies throughout the years that have linked obesity and poor sleep patterns.
However, a more recent study in the journal Sleep Medicine concludes that there is no link between being overweight and sleep deprivation.
This research argues that many previous studies fail to account adequately for other factors, such as:
- drinking alcohol
- living with type 2 diabetes
- level of physical activity
- education levels
- long working hours
- long sedentary time
A lack of sleep may affect a person’s desire or ability to maintain a healthful lifestyle, but it may or may not be a direct contributor to weight gain.
7. Better productivity and concentration
There were several studies that scientists did in the early 2000s that looked at the effects of sleep deprivation.
What the researchers concluded is that sleep has links to several brain functions, including:
- concentration
- productivity
- cognition
A more recent 2015 study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatryshowed that children’s sleep patterns can have a direct impact on their behavior and academic performance.
8.Sleep affects glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes risk
Experimental sleep restriction affects blood sugar and reduces insulin sensitivity .
In a study in healthy young men, restricting sleep to 4 hours per night for 6 nights in a row caused symptoms of prediabetes .
These symptoms resolved after one week of increased sleep duration.
Poor sleep habits are also strongly linked to adverse effects on blood sugar in the general population.
Those sleeping less than 6 hours per night have repeatedly been shown to be at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes .
9.Good sleep can maximize athletic performance
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adequate sleep for adults is between 7 and 9 hours a night, and athletes may benefit from as many as 10 hours. Accordingly, sleep is as important to athletes as consuming enough calories and nutrients.
One of the reasons for this requirement is that the body heals during sleep. Other benefits include:
- better performance intensity
- more energy
- better coordination
- faster speed
- better mental functioning
10.Lower inflammation
There is a link between getting adequate sleep and reducing inflammation in the body.
For example, a study in theWorld Journal of Gastroenterology suggests a link between sleep deprivation and inflammatory bowel diseases that affect people’s gastrointestinal tract.
The study showed that sleep deprivation can contribute to these diseases — and that these diseases, in turn, can contribute to sleep deprivation.
Hours of sleep required for each age group
Sleep needs vary from person to person, depending on their age. As a person ages, they typically require less sleep to function properly.
According to the CDC, the breakdown is as follows:
- Newborns (0–3 months): 14–17 hours
- Infants (4–12 months): 12–16 hours
- Toddler (1–2 years): 11–14 hours
- Preschool (3–5 years): 10–13 hours
- School age (6–12 years): 9–12 hours
- Teen (13–18 years): 8–10 hours
- Adult (18–60 years): 7-plus hours
- Adult (61–64 years): 7–9 hours
- Adult (65+ years): 7–8 hours
As well as the number of hours, the quality of sleep is also important. Signs of poor sleep quality include:
- Waking in the middle of the night.
- Still not feeling rested after an adequate number of hours sleep.
Some things a person can do to improve sleep quality are:
- Avoiding sleeping in when you have had enough sleep.
- Going to bed around the same time each night.
- Spending more time outside and being more active during the day.
- Reducing stress through exercise, therapy, or other means.
Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well-being. Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day.
Getting adequate rest may also help prevent excess weight gain, heart disease, and increased illness duration.
No comments:
Post a Comment