SLEEP DEPRIVATION - A DANGER WE LEAST NOTICED

Sleep deprivation is a condition of not having enough daily sleep. It is an easily unrecognized enemy of the human health causing a wide range of health problems and unwanted harm. Research shows that many people do not know they have sleeping disorders for years. Adequate sleep is the kind of sleep that is followed by a refreshing feeling by the body. This means that the body feels good when you have a good sleep. You cannot then afford to deny yourself good sleep because we all love ourselves and want to feel real good.

WHAT DOES LACK OF SLEEP OR SLEEP DISORDER DO TO YOU?

Makes you feel drowsy or sleepy during the day. This could lead to accidents at home or place of work or road/transport accidents. Life and/or property are often lost.

Makes you less alert and unable to perform up to expectation. You feel so dull and unable to concentrate in activities that require sustained attention e.g. watching of movies at a cinema, listening to lectures in class, effective participation at meetings during the day, etc. in chronic cases, attention deficit disorder as well as mental impairment can set in (simply put, lack of sleep can make one go mad in the long run).

Makes you unable to remember things or store information for a long time or even coordinate yourself to carry out task (confusion).

Makes you feel so fatigued, sick and easily irritated. Chronic sleep deprivation will further lead to psychiatric problems including depression and mood disorders.

Makes you feel hungry more frequently than you should thus making your eat more and add more weight (obesity). Obesity can lead to Diabetes hypertension, and other health problems such as heart attack, heart failure, stroke, etc.

Can cause a divorce or breakdown of relationships – disruption of partners night sleep because of one’s sleeplessness may affect the relationship and in extreme cases can contribute to a divorce case. Another way lack of sleep causes breakdown of relationship is due to its effect on sex drive. Lack of sleep causes decreased energy, increased tension and subsequently low libido. Research studies exist to back up this claim and in addition, there are reports that many men with sleep apnea record lower testosterone levels during the night.

Makes your skin age faster. Lack of sleep for few days often cause puffy eyes and sallow skin but in chronic sleep deprivation, lacklustre skin, fine lines and dark circle under the eyes set in. The experiences loss of elasticity and smooth texture due to the breakdown of collagen by cortisol, a stress hormone released by the body in response to sleep deprivation.

Makes growth difficult. A good sleep is interpreted by the body as food and source of energy. It stimulates growth hormone activity. Hence depriving oneself of sleep makes the body feel lack of energy and inhibits proper growth process especially in children.

Delays recovery from disease states and weakens body immune system. This is obvious in the fact that the body interprets lack of sleep as stress and releases cortisol in response. This hormone is known to be associated with decreased immune system as well as increased risk of falling ill. Thus this opposes the process of recovery from disease states.

Sleep disorder can manifest as:

Inability to fall asleep
Inability to go back to sleep once disturbed
Frequent waking from sleep at nights

I am sure you never heard these facts:

A decrease of about one hour and half of your night sleep time can reduce your daytime alertness and performance by 32%. Now that’s really not good.

Sleep apnea is a primary risk for hypertension (about 40%). Effective treatment of sleep apnea significantly decreases risk of stroke.

WHAT CAUSES SLEEP DISORDERS OR LACK OF SLEEP

Chronic use of stimulants such as caffeine
Insomnia (sleeplessness) arising from hypertension, chronic pain, hormonal or digestive problems, etc.

Works stress, jet lag, and anxiety, allergy, common cold, snoring (of course, YES), fibromyalgia, nightmares, teeth grinding (old age???), apnea (loss of breath) nocturia (frequent night urination) and diarrhoea can cause you to wake at nights thereby interrupting your sleep

Disturbance or sleep disorders of a partner, roommate or spouse

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) – an inexplicable urge to move your legs, sometimes with a tingling sensation (this must not be as a result of over-trekking).

Bedwetting – mostly associated with children who find it difficult to control bladder stimuli. (Sadly some adults still bed-wet both in normal and disease conditions – please pray for those).

Restlessness arising from withdrawal from an addition

Addiction to or frequent night phone calls and chats, watching of late night movies, late night jobs, etc.

DIAGNOSIS:
Your doctor may recommend diagnostic checks such as polysomnography (sleep study), Electroencephalogram (EEG) or genetic blood testing to check for narcolepsy.

THERE IS HOPE – MANY SLEEP DISORDERS CAN BE TREATED!

YES! Sleep disorders can be treated in most cases by treating first the underlying cause of the lack of sleep. Persons who are suffering from the effects of sleep deprivation should see a doctor for counselling, assessment and commencement of therapy. Some of the self-help therapeutic models include:

Addressing bedwetting and potting issues

Use of sleeping pills like Melatonin 5mg, Kalms night tablets – these are OTC tablets.
* Avoid using narcotics or benzodiazepines to induce sleep as dependence easily develops with chronic use. Withdrawal is always very difficult once dependence sets in leading to poor quality of life.
Allergy or cold medications

Breathing devices or surgery to address sleep apnea

Using a dental guard for teeth grin

Having a regular sleep schedule

Decreasing evening water consumption,

Decreasing or limiting caffeine consumption

Decreasing tobacco, alcohol, smoking of weed and/or Indian hemp or use of various other stimulants.

Compiled by
Pharm. Joseph Ebirim
Editor, Pharma-Guide Nigeria

Dec. 11th 2014


SOURCES:
http://www.healthline.com
http://m.webmd.com
http://mayoclinic.org
IMAGE SOURCE: http://m.boldsky.com/health/wellness/2014/stages-of-sleep-that-you-go-through-051831.html