Tag: insomnia

The Importance of Sleep

Getting eight hours of sleep daily is not just important, it is a must. Our day is packed with activities and stressors that the least we can do for our body is to give it a rest once night falls. Important body processes take place while we sleep without us knowing.

Imagine waking up the following day after a deep and peaceful slumber (that may be with help of this). It feels as if you are ready to take on the world. You feel more energized and in a better mood that no amount of sweets or energy drinks can manage to give you – only a good night’s sleep can. And the truth is, your overall health improves when you get that much-needed snooze each night.

A new study is making a huge claim about sleep, and particularly regarding those who have trouble getting to sleep: researchers at the European Society of Cardiology have just discovered that there may be a link between insomnia and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The findings, which were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, add to the growing volume of research about how important sleep is to our bodies and brains in so many different ways, but the level of impact it is how on our risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease surprised scientists.

(Via: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3229516/sleep-insomnia-risk-heart-attack-stroke/)

So, if you suddenly find yourself unable to sleep for whatever reason, try your best to revert back to your normal sleeping pattern or risk putting yourself at higher risk of deadly cardiovascular diseases.

Studies of more than 160,000 people found a clear association between sleep problems and a heart attack or stroke, the Express reports.

Experts say the results show that sleep should be prioritised as part of a healthy lifestyle alongside exercise and diet.

Difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep, and waking up not feeling refreshed increased the risks by 27 per cent, 11 per cent, and 18 per cent respectively.

Women are at a slightly higher risk than men as they are more prone to insomnia because of differences in genetics, sex hormones and reaction to stress.

And since women are more prone to suffer from insomnia than men, the health risks are higher too.

“However, we do know that women are more prone to insomnia because of differences in genetics, sex hormones, stress, and reaction to stress.

“It may therefore be prudent to pay more attention to women’s sleep health.”

(Via: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3229516/sleep-insomnia-risk-heart-attack-stroke/)

So, there’s no denying the fact that you’ve got a lot to lose aside from your precious snooze. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where losing sleep is common in both men and women, the young and the old. And in the United State, the numbers will show you just that.

Facts are that here in the U.S., we are not getting enough sleep. We are a nation that loses sleep working, studying, taking care of personal and family needs, having fun and too, slaying a few dragons. The demands and expectations of our fast-paced 21st century lives have placed increasing loads on our time. And more than ever, people are making up for those strains by cutting back on sleep.

At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear that the cost of insufficient sleep is much higher than most people recognize. It can compromise output, resulting in reduced efficiency and overall poor productivity. Awareness can help you improve your sleep habits and in turn your well-being and productivity in order to “rise and shine” to accomplish what you really want (and need) to do on any given day. Here’s some of the impact that a lack of sleep has on our success with projects at work, school, or home.

And the immune system is one to get hit first (and bad):

Weakened immune system: Not being able to function at optimum health
While you are sleeping, your body recharges and rejuvenates your immune system. Conversely, sleep loss can impair your ability to fight off germs. So while you may feel very productive staying up late or even pulling all-nighters, you become more vulnerable to infections that can result in slowing your abilities and production way down, even to a standstill.

(Via: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/31/health-sleep-and-productivity/)

Getting enough sleep is important no matter how old you are. You may hate being told to go to sleep as a child but you’d think of sleep more of as a luxury as an adult when adult responsibilities deprive you of your much-needed snooze. Your body will tell you that it needs sleep. All you need to do is to listen to it and say goodbye to all your cares in the world – at least for the night.

The Zombie Youth: Do Devices Cause Poor Sleep?

Teenagers have been a breed of excessive sleepers since the dawn of time. Whether they’re outside until the crack of dawn or staying up far later than they probably should, there are a lot of ideas on what can cause a poor night’s sleep. Parents and guardians around the world have been increasingly concerned about the use of electronic devices and how they impact sleep. Whether these well-meaning adults are concerned with video game usage or texting on smartphones late at night, the fact remains that they believe that this overuse of technology must be having a negative impact on the young mind.

Honestly, if little Evan could just pull his eyes away from his table for 24 hours he’d sleep better and if little Chantelle could just put the video game controller down for once, it would be better for her, right? Well, that’s not necessarily the case:

Taking away a teen’s phone or tablet at night does not make them sleep better or longer nor does it mean they will perform better in sports the following day, a new study of young ­athletes has found.

The investigation into the ­impact of electronic devices ­revealed no change at all among the Australian Institute of Sport’s junior judo champions.

The teens whose phones and tablets were taken away for a few days continued to fall asleep at exactly the same time at night and performed just as well as before in training, according to lead researcher Ian Duncan from the Centre for Sleep Science at the University of Western Australia.

“We thought they would go to sleep earlier … because that’s what middle aged and older people do in similar studies,” he said.

“However, these guys were so young — between 16 and 19 — and they did go to bed earlier but they didn’t fall asleep and we think that’s because teens have that locked-in owl-like sleep ­behaviour … it’s like asking a 30-year-old to go to sleep at 5pm. They just can’t do it.”

The researchers monitored the effects of the removal of electronic devices for 48 hours in 23 judo athletes during a six-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport. The athletes wore an activity monitor to ­measure sleep quality.

The researchers found that although athletes went to bed earlier when the devices were ­removed, they fell asleep at the same time as those who had ­access to electronic devices. Removal of the devices did not ­affect their sleep quality, or next-day physical performance ­compared to those who continued to use electronic devices. The ­athletes did not have televisions in their shared rooms throughout the study.

Via: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/digital-devices-have-no-impact-on-teenagers-sleep/news-story/d3636b8bbefddb7328c3bc5779612b82

So take that, concerned adults! Even if your kid is up until the wee hours of the morning that doesn’t mean they’re getting a poor sleep based on device usage alone. Chalk this up as another sleep myth. It seems to be just a part of their biological structure to stay up late. You can’t go fighting your biology and at this age, a youths body is going to tell them when they should be sleeping. So should you probably lay off? Well, keep in mind this article has everything to do with lack of sleep and nothing to do with lack of attention span, which of course seems to be generated by these devices.

So be hard on your kids more because their brains are being damaged by too much device time. Not because it is stopping them from sleeping, but because, come on! There’s no need to be looking at a screen 24 hours per day. A good parent understands that this simply does not make any sense.