Feeling Tired is an experience that many, many people have every day. Why do they feel this way? Do they get enough sleep? How about the right kind of sleep ” if there actually is any such thing?
Long-term tiredness can cause: heart disease, incontinence, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and even a complicated pregnancy. After awhile, feeling tired all the time tears your immune system and hurts your general health.
Did you realize that…
If you feel tired, you are not alone ” in United States and European Union 25 per cent of all persons suffer from tiredness.
25% of all women suffer from clinically significant daytime sleepiness (according to a National Science Foundation study).
Tiredness is becoming known as the modern plague.
The optimal amount of sleep is not a meaningful concept. The timing of that sleep is must be related to an individual’s daily rhythms. A person’s major sleep episode is relatively inefficient and inadequate when it occurs at the “wrong” time of day.
Sleep timing is correct when the following two circadian (daily) markers occur after the middle of the sleep episode- but before awakening:
1) Maximum concentration of the hormone melatonin. This hormone apparently has much to do with sleep. Some people take melatonin as an aid for falling asleep. Others say it does not work for them. Below is a comment on melatonin from a reader in England.
You should mention that melatonin supplements can be very hard to buy in the UK and Europe, (I live in Cambridge). I found that I can buy melatonin for UK delivery from Vitasunn online: www.vitasunn.co.uk
2) Minimum core body temperature.
The National Sleep Foundation in the U. S. states that seven to nine hours of sleep for adult humans is optimal. They also discovered that sufficient sleep benefits alertness, memory and problem solving, and overall health. It also has the effect of reducing the risk of accidents. (Being more alert.)
A much publicized study in 2003 performed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, showed that mental performance declines with fewer than eight hours of sleep. This seems to mean that staying up all night with no or little sleep when cramming for an exam would be counter productive. It is probably more effective to start studying days before the test and get a good nights sleep just before the test.
A California University at San Diego psychiatry study of more than one million adults revealed that people who live the longest, self-report sleeping for 6 to 7 hours each night. Our guess is that they gave their bodies a chance to recoup every 24 hours. That is, they did not wear out the body so fast.
Researchers at University College London and the University of Warwick and have discovered that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. However, too much sleep can double the risk of death, also. Moderation in everything should be your guide.
In addition, sleep difficulties are closely associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, alcoholism and bipolar disorder. Up to 90% of patients with depression have sleep difficulties.
Many sleep deprived people really do not want to take a pill. Some say that they do sleep, but they feel they are not getting real or natural sleep. Perhaps, they still feel the remains of tiredness after artificial sleep.
Well, there are ways to get to and stay asleep in a more natural way. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to go into treatment of sleep deprivation.
Disclaimer – This information is not meant to diagnose, cure, treat or mitigate any disease or condition. Before using consult your doctor or medical advisor. This information is not approved by any government agency – it is for educational purposes only.
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