The Importance of Sleep

This probably isn’t the first time you have heard, or read, about the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. The magic number is usually 7 hours minimum to help your body complete all of the “repair work” that’s needed to get you ready for the next day. You may think that falling short of this necessary amount of sleep will have little impact on your health. Unfortunately, poor sleep on a consistent basis could have serious consequences for your health and well-being.

One major risk is that when you don’t get enough sleep it will raise your cortisol levels. Having elevated cortisol levels increases your risk of:

#1 Insulin resistance and diabetes

#2 High blood pressure and cardiovascular disease

#3 Weight gain – which can easily increase your risk of other illnesses

#4 Increased inflammation which also increases your risk of other illnesses

#5 While these first 4 might concern you, new research should alarm and perhaps even scare you. A recent report from the National Institutes of Health concluded that people in their 50s and 60s who get less than 7 hours of sleep a night are 30% more likely to develop dementia!

#6 Bad sleep also causes short-term memory and concentration difficulties.

#7 Many of our patients come to us for help because they are struggling with chronic pain. What we know is that pain causes bad sleep and bad sleep causes more pain. This is a key reason why you should have your pain evaluated by a specialist to address the cause and improve your health with less pain and a better night’s sleep.

Now stop counting sheep and go get some Zs!

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