Sleep is often thought of as the body’s restorative phase. It is while we are asleep that so many essential processes occur that help maintain our health. Cell renewal, tissue repair, and memory consolidation all occur while we sleep. For some people, disorders like sleep apnea can cause fragmented sleep and sometimes even prevent certain stages of sleep from occurring. Today, the Common Sleep team will discuss the importance of quality sleep and how it can affect your overall health.
How Does the Quality of Our Sleep Affect Our Health
Sleeping less than the recommended 7 to 9 hours at night, even if the quality of sleep is optimal, can harm your health. Sleep deprivation contributes to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, and a decreased immune function. When you add a sleep disorder such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea to an inadequate amount of sleep, the chances of developing these issues increase significantly. This is because a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnea, causes disruption and fragmentation of your sleep. It is sometimes keeping you from achieving an adequate amount of certain stages of sleep.
When Our Breathing Is Interrupted
When pauses occur in your breathing due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea, your oxygen levels drop and your brain gets a signal to wake up so you can take a breath. You go from a deep sleep to a light sleep over and over again throughout the night. Sometimes this can result in skipping over some sleep stages altogether, such as REM sleep or dream sleep. This causes significant stress to your brain and body, leading to an increased chance of developing severe health issues.
Do You Suffer from a Sleep Disorder?
It can be difficult to self-diagnose a sleep disorder. Some of the signs include fatigue throughout the day, waking up groggy, weight gain, snoring, daytime sleepiness, excessive daytime fatigue, and morning headaches. The best way to find out if you have a sleep disorder is to visit with a board-certified sleep physician and discuss if sleep testing is right for you. An evaluation from a sleep physician can help get you the quality sleep you need to maintain good health.
Where Do I Get Started?
If you suffer from the symptoms of a sleep disorder, it is important that you take steps to begin treatment. Undiagnosed sleep disorders can lead to serious health issues like weight gain, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and even sudden death.
Contact Common Sleep today to find out if you suffer from a sleep disorder. Our team will work with you to get you the sleep test that is most comfortable for you. Whether you visit our sleep lab or take an at-home sleep test — our board-certified sleep physician will evaluate your results and recommend the treatment that will work best for you. Contact Common Sleep today.
