I know I have been on the topic of sleep before, but that is only because I have still to experience a good night’s sleep!
Yes, one good night’s sleep!
Drinking hot milk, rubbing lavender at the back of the ear, having a hot bath, I mean I have tried almost every advice available out there but I am yet to experience a good sleep.
There is good news – I am not alone it seems!
Research shows that two-thirds of adults throughout all developed nations fail to obtain the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep.
UK Sleep Council says one out of every three people you pass on the streets of Britain regularly suffer from poor sleep.
What is depressing is to hear that insufficient sleep is now one of the most significant lifestyle factors influencing whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease!
During sleep, a remarkable sewage system in the brain, called the glymphatic system, kicks into high gear. As one enters into deep sleep, this sanitisation system cleanses the brain of a sticky, toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s, known as beta amyloid.
And so without sufficient sleep, you fail to get that power cleanse. With each passing night of insufficient sleep, that Alzheimer’s disease risk escalates, like compounding interest on a loan.
Oh boy! I don’t want to hear this!
Of late, my tiredness has also somehow increased my hunger pangs and wouldn’t you know it... too little sleep swells concentrations of a hormone that makes you feel hungry while suppressing a companion hormone that otherwise signals food satisfaction.
Despite being full, you will still want to eat more. So not only am I getting alzheimer’s, but I am putting on weight too?!
Worse, should you try to diet but don’t get enough sleep while doing so, it is futile, since up to 70 per cent of the weight you lose will come from lean body mass, not fat.
Obtain less than eight hours of sleep a night and especially less than six hours a night and the following happens: time to physical exhaustion drops by 10pc to 30pc, as does aerobic output; limb extension force and vertical jump height are reduced; peak and sustained muscle strength decreases.
Add to this the cardiac, metabolic and respiratory effects: higher rates of lactic acid build-up and reductions in blood oxygen saturation with converse increases in carbon dioxide, due in part to a reduction in the amount of air that the lungs can expire in a sleep-deficient state.
And then there is the injury risk. Relative to sleeping nine hours a night, sleeping five to six hours a night will increase the chances of injury across a season by more than 200pc.
Oh please I really need to get a good night’s sleep!
Reem Antoon is a former GDN news editor. She can be reached on:
clanmun4@gmail.com