Soft music, hot bath, a better cushion, and soft pillows! Tried everything to get better sleep, yet waking up tired? If this is your story, you are not alone!
Research suggests that nearly 18 percent of the healthy Indian adults have difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep, and eight percent report early morning awakening leading to disturbed sleep. It is perfectly normal to have sleep problems due to stress or illnesses. However, when unsatisfactory or lack of sleep becomes a regular occurrence in your life, it surely needs to be considered as a health alert.
Sleep plays a very important role in maintaining our health. Good sleep is necessary for normal functioning of brain, and development especially in children and teens. When you sleep at night, the brain prepares itself and gets ready to function well the next day. Therefore, studies show that people who get better sleep at night show improved learning capability.
On the other hand sleep deprivation can take a toll on your health, affecting your mood, energy level, and ability to cope up with stress. People who do not get satisfactory sleep at night tend to be less motivated, irritated and lethargic during day. Scientists have also reported that lack of enough sleep is associated with some health conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.
This surely does not mean that sleeping for long hours can help you have a better health. Our sleep needs are determined by our age. For instance, babies below the age of one year need to sleep for as long as 16 hours in a day while an adult needs about seven to eight of hours of sleep in a day.
So, now that you know the benefits of good sleep and how much you should sleep, do you think you get adequate sleep at night?
Not Sleeping Well Can Cause Frequent Colds, Reveals New Research:
How often do you miss important events because you have stuffy nose and all you want to do is roll up in bed and get some good sleep. But had you been sleeping well each night, you would not suffer from colds at all. Does that sound very confusing or something that you cannot co-relate? But that is exactly what the latest study conducted by the scientists from US reports.
According to this new study people who sleep less than 5 hours at are 4.5 times more likely to suffer from cold and infections than those who sleep well for about 7 hours.
For the study the scientists involved 164 healthy people and tracked their sleep schedule for about one week. All the participants were asked to record the times at which they went to bed and woke up. The participants were also asked to put a special digital wrist device that could sense the movement during sleep. Movement beyond a certain point was automatically recorded as wakefulness and considered as disturbed sleep.
After a week the same participants were given nose drops containing rhinovirus to induce infection. All the participants then lived in the same environment so that their immune system could work and can be analysed later.
On examining the participants the scientists found that chances of catching cold were highest among people who slept less than 5 hours and lowest among people who slept for more than 7 hours.
This study clearly indicates that people who sleep well are likely to have a better immunity than those who sleep less. Many people tend to sacrifice their sleep in order to manage their hectic work life. However, sleep deprivation clearly has its own health risks. If you have been having health issues due to lack of sleep and are in search of healthy ways to sleep better, you should try Aromatherapy Massage. Massage therapy that uses aromatic essential oils obtained from herbs, is a proven and therapeutic way to get better sleep.
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