What is Healthy Sleep?

You know that healthy sleep is vital to your physical and mental health. But, how can you tell whether you’re truly sleeping well? Especially if you work in shifts, your sleep probably does not look exactly like other peoples’ sleep. It can be hard to measure your patterns against those people around you.

On an average, adults should optimally receive between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, but those needs vary individually.

Food habits, lack of exercise, irregular sleep and varying working styles are basic reasons of sleep apnea.

Interestingly, individuals don’t take sleep disorders seriously which is a cause behind many other ailments including obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

Patients often come for the treatment of hypertension and diabetes while upon diagnosis it is revealed that sleep apnea is one of the basic reasons for this disorder.

Why Is Sleep Health Important?

Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and well-being. Sleep is a basic requirement for infant, child, and adolescent health and development.

Sleep loss and untreated sleep disorders influence basic patterns of behavior that
negatively affect family health and interpersonal relationships.

Fatigue and sleepiness can reduce productivity and increase the chance for mishaps such as medical errors and motor vehicle or industrial accidents.

Adequate sleep is necessary to:

• Fight off infection

• Support the metabolism of sugar to prevent diabetes

• Perform well at work

• Work effectively and safely.

Sleep timing and duration affect a number of endocrine, metabolic, and neurological functions that are critical to the maintenance of individual health.

If left untreated, sleep disorders and chronic short sleep are associated with an increased risk of:

• Heart disease

• High blood pressure

• Obesity

• Diabetes

Read: What You Need To Know About Stroke !

Below are the people’s Statistics on sleep:

• 93 per cent of peoples are sleep deprived, getting less than 8 hours per night

• 58 per cent believe their work suffers due to lack of adequate sleep

• 11 per cent take leave from work because of lack of sleep

• 11 per cent have fallen asleep at work due to a poor night’s sleep

• 38 per cent witnessed a colleague falling asleep at work

• 19 per cent observed that lack of sleep also affects family relationships

• 87 per cent of people say lack of sleep affects health

• 72 per cent of peoples are waking up 1 to 3 times per night

• 15 per cent wake up over stress at work

• 33 per cent peoples snore

• Up to 14 per cent snore as loud as or louder than talking

• only 2 per cent of people discuss their lack of sleep with a physician

If you are having trouble getting adequate sleep, please contact your medical provider and discuss the ways to improve your sleeping habits.