Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
~ Thomas Dekker
30 to 35% of adults have brief symptoms of insomnia.
According to the National Institutes of Health, 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders and other sleep related problems that can significantly diminish overall health, alertness & safety. Left untreated, sleep disorders have been linked to heart disease, stroke, hypertension, depression, diabetes & other chronic diseases. Side effects of poor sleep may even be mental, such as a lack of short term memory, disorientation, and mood swings. And driving while exhausted is as bad as driving drunk. Sleep problems may involve too much or too little sleep, or poor quality of sleep.
Even many animals sleep more than humans. Dogs, cats, and other furry friends will often sleep ten or more hours a day. The average pet ferret will even sleep 16 to 20 hours a day. What do they know that we dont? Most Americans are chronically sleep deprived? We don’t get the full eight hours, and of the sleep we do get, not much of it is as beneficial as it could be.
The body needs the time you spend asleep in order to fix things. We don’t fully understand why humans need to sleep, but many professionals believe that it helps the brain to sort and categorize information that you learn throughout a given day. It makes memories and discards things that are useless. Others believe that the body uses your time while asleep to take out the trash, and dump a lot of unnecessary chemicals and flush your systems out for another day.
Sleep deprivation can cause a number of health problems. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try to set aside extra time to get your full eight hours. If that doesn’t work, or you cant sleep well, contact your primary care physician. You may have sleep apnea or some other issue that they can help you with. If you have been awake for a long time or suffering from insomnia, you may want to stop by the Gateway Urgent Care Center for immediate tests and treatment.
Be well!
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