Why sleep affects our health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why sleep affects our health - Essay Example These possible negative health effects from sleep deprivation increase health care costs while at the same time decrease productivity in terms of information processing and attention while performing tasks. This insufficiency in sleep is one of the risk factors for major chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Major restorative functions of the body like repair of tissue, growth of muscle and synthesis of protein occur almost completely during sleep. As seen earlier, sleep deprivation can be caused by habitual behavior, where this is thought of as being harmless as well as the presence of an ongoing pathological disorder or condition associated with reduced total sleep time like sleep apnea and insomnia. Insufficient sleep can affect life expectancy and ones well-being in general. Studies have shown that sleeping for 5 hours or less per night can increase mortality risk by as much as 15%. Sleeping well does not necessarily guarantee that one will be in good health but it helps maintain many vital functions like tissue repair, growth and consequent development. It is not enough to sleep but is important to have quality sleep. This means that sleep should be uninterrupted as much as possible for the 8 hours in adult and for the recommended hours in other age groups. Many of the costs of poor sleep go unnoticed. Medical conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are likely to develop over long periods of time. This is not to say that this is the only risk factor for these diseases, but coupled with other factors like genetics, poor nutrition and leading a sedentary lifestyle the likelihood of developing these diseased is increased. Insufficient sleep is therefore considered an important risk factor for the development of these diseases and scientists have begun identifying connections that exists to support this. Most of them