How Sleep Affects Your Health & Many Other Things

Research shows that if you’re getting less than five hours or more than eight hours of sleep per night you might be doubling the risk of dying early.

According to a study that was done by University of Warwick and University College London in England, getting too much and/or not enough sleep negatively affected people’s health by almost doubling the mortality rate of over 10,000 civil servants over a 17-year period.  Researchers looked at the sleeping habits of these folks and found those not getting 7-hours of sleep per night on a regular basis were affecting their health and fitness and almost doubling their risk of death by all causes.

The people who slept five hours or less more than doubled their risk of dying from cardiovascular problems. Not getting enough sleep can affect one’s health and fitness because it has been associated with gaining weight, high-blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.  And while there is little data on the link between too much sleep and increased mortality, the research team posited that longer sleeping affected one’s health and was tied to depression, low socioeconomic status and cancer-related fatigue.

The poor sleeping habits of people have been documented over the past several years as the industrialization level f countries has increased.  People work longer hours and cut back on sleep in order to “create” more time for leisure-activities. As a result, fatigue, tiredness and daytime sleepiness are all on the rise and the harmful health effects of sleep deprivation are much more common than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

Sleep is necessary for our bodies to rest and recover from the rigors of the daily routine.  Whether or not a person works out, this down time is necessary and allows our bodies to rebuild and replenish.  Not getting enough sleep causes a wide-range of harmful health effects to your body – mentally and physically – and people who exercise and do not get enough sleep are diminishing the health and fitness benefits that come from working out.

Determining exactly how much sleep an individual needs is a complex endeavor; however, here are some basic steps that everyone can take to help get as much sleep as is needed.  There are four factors that need to be considered in order to create this “sleep-friendly” environment: dark, quiet, cool and comfortable.

But if people don’t give themselves the time to get this sleep, it doesn’t matter how comfortable of an environment they have created, the sleep deprivation will affect their health.  So take the easiest step to making sure that you are as healthy as possible and get seven hours of sleep every night.