One of the things we often take for granted is a good night’s sleep. We don’t think too much about the importance of sleep until we start to lose it. I don’t know the statistics for the number of people in Virginia who suffer from insomnia, but I would venture to guess we have many afflicted friends and neighbors.
Some people have had insomnia for so long that they seem to have grown used to it. Others continually suffer from side effects of fatigue, lowered immune system, impaired mood, etc. Many of us are unaware of the potential damage to our health as a result of lack of sleep. Not sleeping or poor quality of sleep can cause serious illness as well as make already existing disease far worse. Here are just a few of the accumulative dangers of insomnia:
– ulcers
– constipation
– heart disease
– poor immune function
– impaired memory
– increased stress
– increased risk of diabetes
– increased risk of tumor growth
– foggy thinking
– decreased problem-solving ability
– more rapid aging
Some research has indicated that people with chronic insomnia triple their risk of dying from any weakness their body may be prone to. Not getting proper sleep is a far more dire situation than many people realize and can even contribute to an early death.
Although you cannot regain the sleep you have already lost, there are numerous things you can do to stop the cycle of insomnia. Since each of us has a different chemical and biological makeup, what works for one may not work for the other. One person may have unidentified Sleep Apnea, while another may simply be getting too much ‘blue light’ exposure before bedtime. Check out Part 2 for ideas on improving your sleep.
