By J. Todd Gray, DDS, Koala Center for Sleep Disorders
According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. Some may calculate the average hours of sleep they receive and consider seven hours to be sufficient. What we have learned about the lack of sleep on our bodies and our minds, and the need for restorative sleep disproves our justifications for staying up “just one more hour”!
The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following tips to promote healthy sleep habits:
- Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning.
- Make sure your bedroom is a quiet and dark environment.
- Make sure your bed is comfortable and only used for sleeping. Activities such as reading and watching television are never recommended while in bed.
- Avoid large meals before bedtime. This can also aid in acid reflux prevention!
It is no secret that the absence of sleep can make you grouchy and muddled. But are you aware of the effect sleep loss has on your safety, sex life, physical appearance, memory, weight, and overall health?
- Drowsy driving is like drunk driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety administration estimates that fatigue is a cause in 100,000 auto crashes and 1,550 crash-related deaths per year in the U.S.
- Sleep specialists report that men and women who are sleep-deprived suffer from lower libidos and a depleted interest in sex. Bearing in mind the large role sexual intimacy plays in a relationship, there is no wonder low libido is linked to relationship distress.
- If you are noticing sallow skin or puffy eyes when you look in the mirror, it could be that continued sleep loss is affecting your skin. The stress hormone, cortisol, is released increasingly when you are not attaining enough sleep. The problem with excess cortisol is that it breaks down skin collagen, the protein produced by our cells that helps “hold” the skin together, giving it firmness.
- We have all heard tips to help “train your brain” to function best — things such as Omega-3, aerobic exercises, oil-based salad dressings, scrabble, even playing a musical instrument. One of the simplest ways of keeping your memory sharp could very well be to acquire proper sleep habits!
- Obesity is rising in our country at alarming rates. Your lack of sleep could have an affect on your inability to lose weight. When we are sleep deprived, it seems as if our appetite is roused, as is our cravings for high-fat, high carbohydrates food.
- Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss have been associated with heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and many other health conditions.
Longevity of life and quality of life go hand in hand. If you find yourself struggling with day to day activities like driving or connecting with your spouse, skin changes, memory loss, weight gain, or other debilitating health conditions, you may be suffering from sleep disordered breathing or chronic sleep loss.
For more information on sleep hygiene, sleep disordered breathing, or chronic sleep loss, contact Dr. Todd Gray at the Koala Center for Sleep Disorders, 309-319-6568 or online at bloomingtonsleep.com. The office is located at 2309 E. Empire St., Suite 500 in Bloomington. Dr. Gray is devoted to the management of sleep-related breathing disorders, such as snoring and sleep apnea, with oral appliance therapy as well as conservative treatment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, headaches, facial pain, and teeth-grinding. Oral appliance therapy is covered by most medical insurances and Medicare.