Is lack of sleep impacting your health?
Getting inadequate amounts of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, leads to sleep deprivation, and chronic sleep deprivation becomes sleep deficiency. This can result from a range of things from unhealthy sleep habits to a compromised body clock and sleep disorders including sleep apnoea, snoring, insomnia, and night terrors.
What Causes Sleep Disturbances?
Getting deep, good quality sleep can be compromised by many different things. Our modern-day lifestyles are busy and stressful, so it can be very difficult to relax and get enough sleep every night. Many people sacrifice sleep time so they can fit everything else in that they need to get done.
Several other internal factors and habits can impact your ability to get a good night’s sleep.
These include:
- Depression and anxiety
- Being overtired
- Tobacco smoking or using illicit drugs
- Consuming too much alcohol
- Not getting enough exercise
- Being overweight or obese
- Allergies
- Snoring
- Sleep apnoea
Some prescription medications can also interfere with the ability to sleep properly. Additionally, shift workers and people who regularly change time zones are also more inclined to experience chronic sleep deficiency.
The Effects of Sleep Deficiency
Sleep is a basic human need – just as important as breathing clean air and drinking enough water. Ongoing health and wellbeing rely on getting enough good quality sleep most nights.
Chronic sleep deficiency can directly lead to:
- Mental health issues like depression
- Increased likelihood of experiencing accident and injury
- Poor concentration and memory issues
- Lost productivity and learning ability
- Inability make good decisions
- Diminished daily performance
- Moodiness and irritability
- Daytime sleepiness and need for napping
- Microsleep
- Ongoing sleep issues in the long term
- Weight gain and disinclination to exercise and eat well
- Chronic health conditions including heart disease, kidney disease, obesity, stroke, depression, insulin resistance, Type II diabetes, and even cancer
Not getting enough sleep can directly cause low productivity, poor learning ability, and issues with memory and concentration. Your time to react to things slows down and you may even experience microsleep.
(Microsleep is a potentially dangerous condition where extremely brief moments of sleep occur during normal wakefulness – you won’t even realise you’ve been asleep for that time. It commonly occurs while you are in scenarios like a lesson, lecture, meeting, while reading or watching TV, or, more concerning, while driving.)
Getting better sleep has significant health benefits…
5 Ways Sleeping Better Improves Health
- Better Brain Function
A healthy body requires a healthy mind. The brain controls every single function in the body – from maintaining a steady heartbeat to digestion to reaction time, immunity, hormonal balance, growth, pain tolerance, and everything else – the brain controls it all. The brain does its hardest work during sleep. - Healthier Emotional and Mental Wellbeing
Sleep is the time when the brain processes your day and prepares for tomorrow. Very deep dreamless sleep and dreaming sleep are both critically important for this. This is when creativity, imagination, learning ability, mood, problem-solving and decision-making abilities are enhanced. Getting regular, adequate quality sleep makes you less likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. You’ll also make better decisions. - Better Physical Health
Sleep is the time when processes controlling healing, repair, growth, and development take place the most. It’s also essential for the maintenance and balance of the hormones which regulate hunger (ghrelin and leptin). Every hour of lost sleep actively increases your risk of obesity. Sleep is also important for regulation of blood sugar and sensitivity to insulin, normal puberty and fertility, development of healthy muscle mass, and optimal immune function which helps prevent and fight everything from the common cold to cancer. - Improved Functioning During the Day
Sleeping enough and at the right time, in sync with your natural body clock, helps you function at your best during the day. You will be more productive, learn and retain information better, react more quickly, and be able to concentrate more effectively. You’ll be less inclined to require daytime naps and will feel better and more alert overall. - Greater Energy Levels
Sleep better for more energy! Having more energy and feeling better lets you get more done in every way – more exercise, work, recreation, and you even relax better. This gives you a greater sense of satisfaction, wellbeing, and quality of life.
Sleep Better with ApneaRX
One thing which directly compromises your sleep is snoring – and sleep apnoea is even worse. As such, snoring and sleep apnoea have wide impacts on your overall health and wellbeing. ApneaRX can help.
ApneaRX is the NZ brand of an effective, medically designed and patented anti-snoring device. It has helped thousands of people worldwide stop snoring for a better night’s sleep.
ApneaRX is comfortable, risk-free, and suitable for use by any adult over the age of eighteen years. It is worn in the mouth during sleep to gently reposition the lower jaw.
To discover how ApneaRX can help you stop snoring to sleep better, visit our website or call 0800 111 325.
