Archive for May, 2010

How Good Sleep Helps You Stay Healthy

Sleep is critical to human life. In fact, science has proven that your body requires sleep, just like it requires air, food and water. Sleep regenerates our bodies, and too long without sleep can actually cause death. Long before you would actually die, however, you would hallucinate, have trouble focusing your eyes, and likely become paranoid.

Of course, most of us don’t make an attempt to stop sleeping altogether. However, very often as adults, we try to add a few extra hours to our day by taking them from our sleep time. Experts say that most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep each night, but many of us try to get by on 5 or 6. But, even shaving off one or two hours can cause problems. Take a look at these issues that can come from too little sleep.

More susceptible to viruses, like colds.
Weight gain – when you’re not getting enough sleep, your body has trouble regulating the hormones ghrelin (the one that makes you feel hungry) and leptin (the one that makes you feel full)
Loss of ability to concentrate.
In fact, sleep deprivation causes your body to have difficulty regulating lots of hormones; not just the ones that regulate appetite. Loss of sleep can cause blood sugar levels to become irregular (especially in people who already have diabetes), estrogen levels to fluctuate and melatonin production to be insufficient. Sleep deprivation causes stress hormone levels to increase, which increases your blood pressure and puts you at greater risk for strokes and heart attacks. In the long run, scientists have found, this irregularity in hormone production increases your risk of many serious illnesses, including some forms of cancer.

There is also evidence that we need to get our sleep at night. Studies have shown that people who work nights have an increased risk for colon and breast cancer. This is likely due to the body’s limited ability to produce adequate levels of melatonin when sleep occurs during daylight hours.

Sleep rests your brain as well as your body, boosts your immune system, regulates hormone production and helps your nervous system work properly. So, adequate sleep is critical to overall good health. If you find that you’re trying to get enough sleep, but just can’t; see your doctor.

Quality of sleep is important, too. Waking frequently during the night causes poor quality of sleep because your body is unable to get into (and stay in) the deep sleep patterns required for real rest.

What about too much sleep? This can actually be a problem, too, in the long run. Scientists have found that people who sleep significantly more or significantly less than seven hours a night have a higher mortality rate than those who sleep just about seven hours. If you’re sleeping too much, it may be due to some underlying medical cause, such as diabetes, depression, or a thyroid problem. If you just can’t get by on less than 10 hours of sleep a night, see your doctor.

In addition to the medical benefits to getting enough sleep, there are plenty of other benefits. When you’re rested, you’ll find it easier to focus, you’ll be more productive and you’ll be in a better mood.

Phyl Zerkle writes about how to search for a masters in nursing.

Cheap Flight

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