We all know that sleep is important. If you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you might feel crummy for days afterward. And if you’re like a lot of the rest of the world, you’re not getting enough sleep. Whether it’s because of stress, too much screen time, or a variety of other reasons, there are a lot of people that don’t get enough sleep on a nightly basis.
Scientists are just starting to learn about how sleep works and what it does for us. To roughly sum it up, sleep allows the brain to clean itself. A lot of the toxins that accumulate in the brain throughout the course of the days are eliminated during sleep. These are the same toxins that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which can sound quite alarming at first. However, in the healthy brain, during a good night’s sleep, these toxins are eliminated and the brain starts functioning as normal again soon after.
But sleep does more than just this. A new study from the American Heart Association discovered that individuals with high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or are recovering from a stroke stand to face much greater health risks than healthier individuals if they do not get six hours of sleep or more on a nightly basis. These people are much more likely to develop cancer or suffer premature death than others with heart disease or related illnesses that do get enough sleep.
It seems that sleep is also associated with a healthy immune system. Things that the body would naturally fight off, like opportunistic cancers, become more likely to occur in those that are already dealing with a chronic illness and do not get enough sleep. The link was so strong that researchers concluded that short sleep duration should be included as a general risk factor when it came to various types of cancer and premature death. Of those that passed away during this study, the majority were from heart disease complications and cancer.
Additionally, the study found that if someone did suffer from something like diabetes but was getting adequate sleep, their risk of premature death was not very high. This is a great argument for the importance of sleep and making sure that it is time that we protect, both for ourselves and our loved ones.
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, and the impact it can have on the elderly population can be devastating. Younger individuals can often change their habits and improve their health over the long term, but for seniors, this can be a lot more difficult to do. Sleep might be a habit that’s hard to change, but it’s not impossible. If you are struggling to figure out how to get a good night’s sleep, speak to a doctor. They may have tips or suggestions to help you start sleeping better and start taking better care of the people that you love. Turning the TV off at bedtime can be a great start, but your doctor can help guide you more accurately.
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