e Health Counselor

Posts Tagged ‘Sleep’

Sleep is one important part of our daily activity to give our body rest and rejuvenate for further action. Our body needs definite hours of rest in form of sleep for healthy functioning. The metabolism and hormone regulation of our body are integrally correlated. Any change in physical activity or habit results in change in the whole body mechanism. This article gives an idea how inadequate sleep can cause an imbalance in the insulin activity and in turn can affect the glucose metabolism. There have been ongoing researches and studies to understand various processes in the body and those researches have revealed interesting facts. Now researchers opine sleeplessness bears potential risk of developing resistance towards insulin metabolism in the body and makes prone to type 2 Diabetes.

To support the hypothesis a study was performed by selecting 9 healthy subjects. The subjects were tested for the insulin activity in their body and the outcome was recorded. This measurement was done in two stages. First the subjects were tested for the insulin sensitivity one after a normal eight hours sleep and then the same test was performed after a four hours of short  sleep in the same subjects. He results were recorded and compared subsequently. The findings and data indicated the sensitivity of insulin was found to be dependent on duration of sleep in the previous night quoted Dr. Esther Donga of Leiden University medical Centre in the Netherlands. In a news Release from the Endocrine Society Dr. Donga said that speculation of the adverse effects sleepless nights over insulin activity is quite appealing. He added multiple sleepless nights can have considerable bad outcome over the glucose tolerance. Even one sleepless night can also product effects on metabolism of insulin in a person.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology published this piece of work in the June issue.

It is observed in the past decade that western societies that people have shortened sleep duration resulting in insulin resistance as pr Dr. Donga. She said simultaneous occurrence of sleeplessness and diabetes may not be just by chance. She also added short duration of sleep has considerable effect on metabolic activity of insulin than comprehended earlier.

She stressed on the provision of further research to establish link between enhanced sleep by medication and balance of glucose levels in diabetic population. No doubt if this has been established, further research can open doors for prevention of complex health issues arising from diabetes by controlling the disease.

At least 8 hours of sleep per day is essential for anybody to refresh your “Head Quarter”: is a wise saying. But sound sleep can be lethal sometimes if you suffer from sleep apnoea: a type of respiration disorder during sleep. It is now recognized that 2-4% of the middle aged population suffer from recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep due to ensuing sleep  fragmentation they experience daytime sleepiness, especially in monotonous situations, and this results in a threefold increased risk of road traffic accidents and a nine fold  increased risk of single vehicle accidents.

The problem results from recurrent occlusion of the pharynx during sleep, usually at the level of the soft palate. On inspiration the pressure in the pharynx is sub atmospheric. During wakefulness, upper airway dilating muscles contract actively during each inspiration to preserve airway patency.during sleep, muscle tone declines and the ability of the airway dilating muscles to maintain pharyngeal patency falls. If the obstruction is incomplete, turbulent flow and vibration occur, resulting in snoring. If narrowing progresses to the point of occlusion, sleeping person increases the breathing effort to try to breathe until the increased effort transiently awakens him. Then a series of deep breaths are taken before the person rapidly returns to sleep, snores and becomes apnoeic once more. This recurrent cycle of apnoea, awakening, apnoea, awakening etc. may repeat itself many hundreds of times per night and result in severe sleep fragmentation. The awakenings are associated with surges in blood pressure which may increase the risk of sustained hypertension, coronary events and stroke. The complete narrowing of the upper airway can even lead to sudden respiratory failure resulting to death.

Predisposing factors to the sleep apnoea include being male, which doubles the risk, probably due to a testosterone (male hormone) effect on the upper airway, and obesity, found in about half the people effected, because pharyngeal fat deposits tend to narrow the throat, nasal obstruction can further exacerbate the problem. The condition is often familial, and in these families the maxilla and mandible (bones of the face!) are back-set, narrowing the upper airway. Alcohol and sedatives predispose to snoring and apnoeas by relaxing the upper airway dilating muscles.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is the principal symptom and snoring is virtually universal. The person usually feels that he or she has been asleep all night but wakes unfreshed. Bed partners report loud snoring in all body positions and will often have noticed multiple breathing pause (apnoeas). Difficulties with concentration, impaired work performance, depression, irritability etc. are common features.

Facing this problem? Sleep labs are there for you. They give therapy named Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) through a nasal mask every night at home. Beside this other predisposing factors are also advised to reduce anyway…

Or you can find out any Japanese sleeping club which is providing sound sleep at a rate of $10 per hour, to their clients!

Will it be so expensive in comparison to passing a sleepless night due to apnoea? …