Not at all. The importance of sleep has been known for eons. A lack of proper sleep over time can have deleterious effects on many body systems. Researchers have shown that people who are sleep deprived have a higher incidence of obesity, insulin resistance (early diabetes) and high blood pressure.
Recently,
Italian researchers evaluated sleep studies that included over 400,000 subjects
to understand the relationship between sleep and heart disease. They found that average sleep less than
5 hours over a three-year period significantly increased the risk of developing
heart disease, stroke and death.
Too much
sleep is dangerous as well. After
8.5 hours or so, some sleep specialists say sleep becomes counterproductive and
you may actually feel more tired. But the recent study actually showed that fatigue is the least concern
for people who sleep longer than 9 hours on average. The risk of heart disease and stroke also rose significantly
in people who slept for longer duration.
Sleep
researchers say that the required amount of sleep varies person to person, but
is generally between 5-8 hours in a 24-hour period. Several things influence the amount of sleep you need. With age, one requires less sleep. A 70 year old, for example, may require
only 5 hours of sleep, whereas an infant can sleep up to 16 hours! The amount of sleep you require can
also change with level of activity, fitness, current health status and amount
of sleep on the previous day.
As it
turns out, the most restorative sleep happens in the first 1-2 hours of sleep.
This may be why ‘power naps’ seem to refresh.
Talk to
your doctor about persistent sleep problems because this could be a sign of
other conditions and if unchecked can lead to serious problems down the line.
Here’s to
Mastering Your Health.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
Dave
Montgomery, MD, PhD is a Cardiologist at Northwestern University and a sought
after Speaker and Health Coach. http://davemontgomerymd.com
http://twitter.com/dmontgomerymd
