Did you know that not getting enough sleep affects your health?
During sleep the brain replenishes chemicals and the body rests, so not sleeping as necessary, can affect physical and mental health in various ways. Sleep needs vary greatly from one individual to another, in general, children require about 8 or 10 hours, teenagers between 8 and 9, adults about 7 or 8, and older adults (over 70 years of age). age) between 5 and 6.
Between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, ranging from mild problems to sleep to narcolepsy, chronic insomnia and sleep apnea. The problem is much more frequent in women and the elderly.
There are also individuals who have sleep disorders by choice, since by staying late watching television, going out at night, etc., they go to bed very late and get up early, sacrificing sleep hours that do not recover even if they later sleep more hours.
The lack of sleep affects the health not only increasing the incidence of certain diseases such as: Diabetes (due to the increase in insulin resistance), obesity, cardiovascular diseases; decreasing concentration, energy, altering behavior and emotions which negatively affects the quality of life.
"Sleeping well is one of the three fundamental pillars to enjoy good health, in addition to a balanced diet and regular exercise," the agency explained in an informative note.
Some of the ways in which little sleep can affect your health
Bad diet
"The lack of sleep makes us eat worse," says Cramer.
According to a study developed by the RSPH, more than a third of people eat badly when they sleep little. When we sleep little, we eat less. The reason, explains the expert, is that, in that situation, "we usually eat little food healthy, and that's why lack of sleep is linked to weight gain. "
Mental health affected
"Sleeping little is related to a wide variety of physical, mental and behavioral disorders," says Cramer.
"Mental health is a particular issue and is, in a way, a vicious circle: if you have mental problems, you sleep little, and vice versa, and you feel worse and worse." If you sleep little, you are more likely to suffer mental disorders. Cramer considers it "vital" to ask for psychological help in these cases, and advises, in cases of insomnia, to resort to treatments such as specific medications or behavioral therapy, which has proven to be "highly effective".
According to the Institute of Sleep Medicine, a Spanish organization that investigates sleep disorders, lack of sleep is linked to depression, anxiety and psychological problems.
Risk of accidents
"If you suffer from lack of sleep, you are more likely to suffer an accident," says Cramer. According to the specialist, "one in five car accidents has to do with lack of sleep." One in five car accidents They occur due to lack of sleep.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States, 40,000 people suffer injuries each year due to problems related to lack of sleep, and 1,550 people die in this type of accidents in the country. And the Harvard Medical School found that 250,000 drivers fall asleep every day.
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Lower physical performance
It is important to sleep well to have energy during the day, which allows us to develop our daily activity. It is, in fact, an "essential issue for the operation of our day to day", experts say.
Sleep has a great impact on physical and mental wellbeing because it is restorative. The most common mistakes before and after exercising
Many athletes can sleep little and perform at a good level, but it is essential to rest long enough after exercising. The problem of lack of sleep is that it directly affects physical performance since the body needs a minimum of hours of rest.
"Sleeping has a real impact on our health because it is restorative," explains Cramer.
In addition, practicing physical exercise will make you sleep better, so both activities complement each other perfectly.
Limit cognitive ability
The lack of sleep affects our memory and our ability to learn. "We know that lack of sleep or poor quality has a great negative impact on our health in the long and short term," warn the WASM experts. The lack of sleep affect the attention capacity, memory recovery and learning. We should understand the dream in the same way that we understand other things that benefit our health, such as a good diet or physical activity " , says Cramer.
Some changes in daily habits to improve sleep
According to some experts, changing certain daily habits favors sleep and its quality, for example:
1-Avoid or reduce caffeine consumption especially in the evening - night
2-Dine lightly, avoiding doing it too late at night (at least 3 hours before going to bed)
3-Avoid alcohol or drugs at night Perform physical activity regularly
4-Avoid doing physical exercise very late at night
5-Do not watch television in bed and turn it off before falling asleep
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