There is a reason human beings needs sleep. We’re not programmed to run on empty when it comes to both our eating and sleeping habits. Perhaps you’ve heard it before: you’ve got a deadline on a project or essay and you decide to pull an all-nighter. You think you’ll be fine if you skip sleep for one night. You might be fine for one night, but you shouldn’t make it a habit. There are those who suffer from sleep disorders like snoring and insomnia who can’t get that coveted rest without medication or other sleep aids like mouthpieces. These people would probably literally kill to get a good night’s rest. Poor sleep will do more than just ruin your night: it can also ruin your health both physically and mentally. There have been new studies done that have linked poor sleep with inflammation:
A new meta-analysis in Biological Psychiatry reports that sleep disturbances and long sleep duration are associated with increases in markers of inflammation.
“It is important to highlight that both too much and too little sleep appears to be associated with inflammation, a process that contributes to depression as well as many medical illnesses,” said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
Insufficient sleep is considered a public health epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Common sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, have been associated with increased risk of inflammatory disease and mortality.
Substances that increase in response to inflammation and circulate in the blood stream, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), predict adverse health conditions including cardiovascular events, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Many studies have investigated the mechanism behind the association between sleep health and immunity, but variations between studies have made it difficult to understand the effects.
[…]
People with a normal sleep duration get 7-8 hours of shut-eye per night. The analysis showed that sleep disturbance (poor sleep quality or complaints of insomnia) and long sleep duration (more than 8 hours) were associated with increased levels of CRP and IL-6. Shorter sleep duration was associated with increased levels of CRP. No associations were found with TNFα.
Via: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160706091735.htm
As we get older and life becomes more demanding we tend to think we can get away with cutting back on our diet or our sleep patterns. As adults, the rush of the day to day can make it seem like we never get a time to unwind unless we stay up until 2am, even though we need to get up for work by 6am.
If you are a person who suffers from a sleep disorder there is even more reason for you to get an appropriate amount of sleep each night. As outlined in the article above, insufficient sleep can do a serious number on your physical health which can affect your mental health. If you aren’t physically and mentally healthy, you won’t be able to provide for yourself. You may find yourself on disability, unable to work, which is definitely not going to help you feel good about yourself.
If you snore, feel you may suffer from insomnia or any other sleep disorder, you may need to get a sleep study to determine what exactly your issue is. The more you know, the better armed you can be when seeking treatment methods. Treatment can be as simple as wearing a mouthpiece to keep yourself from snoring or as complicated as an exercise and medication regime. The point of the matter is, you can take control. Isn’t it about time you did?
