Sleep gives you better health - Myth or Truth

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<h1>Sleep gives you better health - Myth or Truth</h1><strong> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Loo.aspx'>Loo</a></strong><br /><p>Insomnia as we all know is sleeplessness - The absolute inability of a person to get a proper shut eye. It is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, disturbed sleep and waking up too early. The causes are many and most of the time it is related to lifestyle habits. Insomnia is generally classified into Secondary (Caused by health problems) or Primary (not caused by health problems). It is also classified based on the duration of the problem - Transient (few days); Short-term (few weeks); long term (a month or more). Transient or short term insomnia can be caused by a major or minor event that occurred like, Injury, Surgery, loss of a loved one, Job loss, illness, extreme weather, exams, trouble at work etc. Hormonal changes or fluctuations in females during times like pregnancy or menstruation are also a cause for insomnia. Some other factors are Caffeine, Nicotine or medications. However most of the cases of chronic Insomnia is related to psychological problems like Stress, Depression or Bipolar Disorder. This then becomes a vicious cycle. A slight depression might trigger insomnia. Then the person would start getting stressed about the lack of sleep and thus increasing their insomniac tendencies. Insomnia is definitely not life threatening. However extensive studies have shown that on an average people who slept for 7 hours a day lived longer than people who slept for less than 6 hours a day or more than 8 hours a day. Studies also show that 1% of all road accidents are caused directly or indirectly by insomnia. How does Insomnia affect our body? * It can lead to irritability * Poorer relationships * Lack of concentration and thinking ability * Depression * increases the risk of heart problems * It can cause weight gain and can lead to obesity * Some studies have shown that people who sleep well have a higher level of certain immune factors in deep sleepers. Some studies also showed that vaccines are better taken by the body when we are rested well. Studies are still on for this and people are still debating, probing and researching the topic. If this is proved true conclusively, the link between sleeplessness and immunity can have far reaching implications on the people and society. Now that we know the causes and effects of Insomnia, let us see what we can do to treat this condition. Behavioral therapy and prescription medicines are the two different lines of treatment used. Doctors prefer using behavioral therapy over prescription drugs as a first step especially in the case of children. Studies report that behavioral therapy has been successful in helping most of the patients with Primary insomnia and some cases of chronic insomnia as well. Some of the methods of behavioral therapy are - Stimulus control, Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Sleep restriction, Relaxation training and Biofeedback. Prescription drugs are equally effective. However there are some considerations like mental health, age of the patient, whether insomnia is accompanied by depression, whether it is a repeat doze etc. So now that you know what a little sleeplessness can do, the havoc it can wreak, we should all decide to nip it in the bud and take those first steps to prevent it by making some small lifestyle changes like - * stop day napping * exercise more * reduce caffeine, alcohol and nicotine intake * Not doing night shifts * Stopping self or unnecessary medication </p><strong>About the Author:</strong><br />Know more about <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whysleep.org/22/sleep-less-give-you-weaker-immune-system/">sleep immune system</a> at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.whysleep.org">why sleep</a> website.<p> Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Sleep-gives-you-better-health-Myth-or-Truth_136021.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Sleep gives you better health - Myth or Truth_136021.aspx</a></p>

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Category : Health and Fitness : Health and Fitness