Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects: The resulting complications

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects. Never take sleep for granted. the effects of not having adequate sleep can be very dangerous.

There are very many things which we often take for granted in our daily lives yet they impacts seriously on our general health. If you study carefully causes of being overweight or obesity, you will be surprised to note that nearly all those causes can easily be avoided. One of those is sleep deprivation, when a normal human being should be having at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, majority of us hardly sleep for four hours. The result of these in abilities to prevent such causes is now causing us to make obesity and sleep deprivation effects as a topic of discussion. Even though the obesity is affecting people across the globe, some nations are feeling the pinch than others. For instance America has very alarming statistics about the penetration of obesity probably it is the worse hit country globally with about 65% of its citizens being overweight.

This is not something to be proud of and we need to investigate ourselves to find out why are we as a nation getting fatter? In fact collectively our levels of physical activity have dropped, along with our caloric expenditure, yet our caloric intake has not declined. When caloric expenditure declines and caloric intake does not decline, weight gain occurs. Besides that we’re also getting less sleep than we used to. If you were to add all of those features together, you can only make a worthy conclusion that we have a perfect model for obesity. Let us now look at sleep as a factor in this problem of obesity and sleep deprivation effects.

It is true that everyone is bound to experience sleep deprivation at one time or another and it will still be fine. However when this becomes persistence sleep deprivation can lead to serious problems. Sleep deprivation causes excessive daytime sleepiness and decreases your ability to perform your regular activities. Ongoing sleep deprivation can lead to a host of medical complications and an increased risk of vehicle crash or injury. There are many causes of sleep deprivation ranging from medical conditions, medications, sleep disorders, and lifestyle factors. The type of treatment for sleep deprivation depends on the cause and that is a point of discussion for another day.

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects: Causes of sleep deprivation

Like I have said sleep deprivation can come as a result of not receiving  adequate amount of sleep during the night, resulting in excessive daytime drowsiness, irritability, depression, poor thinking skills, and decreased functioning during the day. Ongoing sleep deprivation can lead to medical conditions, such as heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, and diabetes, as well as lead to an increased risk of vehicle crashes or accidents. Severe sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations and even death.
There are many causes of sleep deprivation. Your lifestyle can influence how much sleep you get and the quality of your sleep. Parents of a new baby, students studying for exams, or people traveling across time zones may be susceptible to temporary sleep deprivation. Shift workers are vulnerable to ongoing sleep deprivation.
Medical conditions, such as chronic pain or asthma, and certain medications can impair sleep. People with untreated sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, or insomnia, can experience sleep deprivation. Women may experience sleep deprivation because of hormone fluctuations that occur with premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects: Complications

The available statistics indicate that the obesity epidemic is rapidly getting children off foot. CDC estimates that one in three children born in America is overweight. Frustrating further is that many of these children are already catching some chronic complications diabetes, and with those (children) under 10 years of age are already developing type 2 diabetes which is primarily seen in adults is usually not until past the age of 40.

Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to hypertension and increased risk of heart attack. It also damages the eyes, kidneys and other vital organs. The earlier one develops the disease, the greater the potential for long-term damage, especially if the diabetes isn’t diagnosed and brought under treatment.

Nevertheless the problem is no less serious for adults. It is estimated that some 18 million Americans have sleep apnea, which is often associated with people who are overweight. As the person gains weight, especially in the trunk and neck area, the risk of sleep-disordered breathing increases due to compromised respiratory function.

If a person is overweight and suffering from sleep-disordered breathing, he/she may not be as motivated to exercise or to diet. When apnea leads to daytime sleepiness, it may be that much harder to begin or sustain an exercise program, which has been shown to help people begin or maintain weight loss. Not only does obesity contribute to sleep problems such as sleep apnea, but sleep problems can also contribute to obesity. In one of the studies it was established that building up a sleep debt over a matter of days can impair metabolism and disrupt hormone levels. After restricting 11 healthy young adults to four hours’ sleep for six nights, researchers found their ability to process glucose (sugar) in the blood had declined in some cases to the level of diabetics.

A further research also established that people who don’t sleep adequately have physiologic abnormalities that may increase appetite and calorie intake. The level of leptin an appetite stimulating hormone falls in subjects who are sleep deprived, which promotes appetite. It suggests that at least one factor in obesity can be sleep deprivation. Poor sleep and sleep deprivation may increase appetite. Because the psychological manifestations of fatigue, sleep and hunger are similar, as adults, we sometimes confuse them. We often eat when we’re actually sleepy, because we think fatigue is a sign of hunger.

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects: Treatment

Sometimes the best way to treat obesity can be to treat the underlying sleep problem. Successful treatment of sleep apnea, usually with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), may reduce sleepiness and then motivate patients to effectively lose weight, which will in turn help the obesity and the sleep apnea. Most experts say that even with as little as a 10% decrease in weight can lead to significant clinical improvement in the severity of sleep apnea. However, in the more severe cases of apnea, CPAP is a necessary first step to better sleep and feeling motivated to embark on a weight loss program. Finally like I had mention above, things which are making us gain weight can easily be avoided if only we can do the right things. However if this has caused you to gain weight and you’re finding it an uphill to climb, the help is on the way at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care. You can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today for further consultations that will help you eliminate obesity and sleep deprivation effects from your life.

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation Effects: The resulting complications