Why You Need Good Sleep

Our bodies need good sleep.  The full science of sleep is still something of a mystery but scientists are constantly publishing new studies which highlight the importance of sleep and its various functions.  What is clear is that sleep is essential to our overall health and wellbeing. 

Restful sleep helps make us more sociable, more productive and even plays an important part in our immune system and neurological nervous systems. 

The benefits of waking refreshed after a good nights sleep with restored energy levels are well known.  But what about some of the less well-known benefits of sleep?  Scientists are beginning to understand that sleep serves a variety of functions and are constantly discovering greater benefits to be derived from healthy sleep patterns.

Beauty Sleep

We really do need our Beauty Sleep.  Research shows that growth hormone is released during sleep which may help somatic, or cell, regeneration.  So your mum was right when she encouraged you to get your beauty sleep.

Sleep and Obesity

People suffering from sleep deprivation have a greater tendency towards obesity.  Studies have shown that glucose tolerance is affected in sleep-deprived subjects which can lead to weight gain.  They also have reduced levels of leptin, a protein hormone that inhibits appetite.

Sleep and the Immune System

Poor sleep is linked to lower immune system efficiency. Recent studies also indicate that poor sleep can affect the autoimmune system. The article in the journal of Biological Psychiatry indicates that even one night of impaired sleep can trigger tissue-damaging inflammation. The research suggests that a good night’s sleep can ease the risk of both heart disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Studies carried out by a team from Carnegie Mellon University found that adults who had less than seven hours of sleep a night were three times more at risk of contracting colds and flu.  So good help can help prevent you getting the flu.

Get out of the wrong side of the bed?

When people wake up tired and grumpy we often say that they got out of the wrong side of the bed that morning.  Scientists have found that the emotional centres of sleep deprived subjects are up to 60% more active than those who have had a good night's sleep. People who are well rested are more likely to hold their emotions in check leading to better relationships.

Sleep and the nervous system

Other studies have shown that deep sleep helps generate new nerve cells in the brain.  Free radicals are a by-product of human metabolism and are neutralized by enzymes released in the body.  Sleep-deprived rats are shown to produce lower levels of one of these neutralising enzymes in the brain resulting in damage to nerve cells. 

It appears that sleep plays an essential part in the health of our nervous system with our body rebuilding nerve cells during sleep.

These factors help the body to repair damage caused by stress and other environmental factors which can cause cell damage.

Cognitive ability

The effects of poor sleep on cognitive and motor skills are well known often, unfortunately through dramatic news reports of some terrible accident caused by impaired sleep.

Poor sleep is found to impair short-term memory and limits our ability to function properly.  Our reaction times are slower and motor skills impaired.

And if you're thinking of an all-night cramming study session, it may not be as effective as you would hope. It might work for remembering and listing facts but any form of examination which involves critical thinking is likely to be severely impaired.  You're better off getting a good night's sleep in before an exam.

Poor Decision Making

Unfortunately sleep deprivation is becoming institutionalised with many professional people working long hours with few hours sleep.  The best known sleep-deprived profession is medicine. Often junior doctors work 80 to 100 hour weeks with long shifts. A comparison study between doctors working long shifts (e.g. 30 hours) and those on fewer weekly hours showed that doctors on the tiring traditional schedule made 36% more serious medical errors, including 57% non-intercepted serious errors.  They also made 5.6 times as many serious diagnostic errors.

Good sleep keeps you alive for longer

A study in the April 1 2009 issue of the journal SLEEP demonstrates that people with insomnia and a moderately short sleep duration of five to six hours had a risk for hypertension that was 350 percent higher than normal sleepers.

 Death rates from all causes are lower among those who sleep seven to eight hours nightly.

Society today has led to an increasing tendency to submit ourselves to consistent sleep deprivation as we live in a 24 hour world with access to internet chat all night as well as online gaming and even the possibility of doing your grocery shopping in the middle of the night.

We can overcome short term sleep deprivation quite well and catch up after just a few nights with little sleep.  However chronic sleep deprivation takes much longer to recover from and the long-term detrimental effects of this are not yet known.

As science finds out more about the essential functions of sleep the evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of resolving sleep problems.  Glo to Sleep™ can help.