Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.
Far from being a time-wasting, 8-hour sentence in a useless void, the research is pretty clear on this point: sleep is crucial for good health. It helps memory and mood, keeps you trim, strengthens your immune system, fights inflammation, and keeps your heart and blood vessels in tip-top shape. Why your heart needs a good night's sleep. Short sleepers, typically defined as people who get less than six hours of sleep a night, as well as people who don't spend enough time in the deepest stages of sleep, are at higher risk of heart attacks and strokes than those who get at least seven hours. 11 Surprising Health Benefits of Sleep. Sleep makes you feel better, but its importance goes way beyond just boosting your mood or banishing under-eye circles. Adequate sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, and can benefit your heart, weight, mind, and more. Credit: Corbis.  Sleeping problems are common in many other disorders as well, including Alzheimer's disease, stroke, cancer, and head injury. These sleeping problems may arise from changes in the brain regions and neurotransmitters that control sleep, or from the drugs used to control symptoms of other disorders. Sleep: A Dynamic Activity. Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a passive, dormant part of our daily lives. We now know that our brains are very active during sleep. Moreover, sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in many ways that we are just beginning to understand. “This can give you energy and a more positive outlook.” It can also help you manage stress. Over the long run, these benefits may protect your mental health. Research in the journal SLEEP showed that people who snoozed 7 to 9 hours a night had fewer symptoms of depression than those who slept more or less. 1  1. You should aim to get 7 to 8 hours of shut-eye every night. That gives your body the time it needs for sleep to do some very important things. Here are seven of them. Physical Health. Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well. Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. Sleep helps your brain work properly. While you're sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It's forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information. Studies show that a good night's sleep improves learning. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well. Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. Home Sleep Topics Diet, Exercise and Sleep. For years your doctor, your mom and your friend who goes to the gym multiple times a week have probably been telling you to eat better and exercise more. It’s all you hear on television, in the newspapers and on talk radio. Research shows that all mammals need sleep, and that sleep regulates mood and is related to learning and memory functions. Not only will getting your zzzs help you perform on a test, learn a new skill or help you stay on task, but it may also be a critical factor in your health, weight and energy level. Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well. Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. Also try these tips to improve your sleep. Sleep is important for maintaining alertness, energy for daily duties and health. If you’re one of the 37 percent of people who sleep fewer than 7 hours per night—or if the quality of your sleep is poor—then you might be sleep-deprived. While some people need less sleep than others, studies show getting less sleep than you need may negatively affect your health. The Impact of Sleep Deprivation Being sleep-deprived may lead to: Symptoms that resemble and feel like depression or anxiety.
http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20573185,00.html http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221,00.html http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/discomfort-15/better-sleep/healing-power-sleep http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/diet-exercise-and-sleep http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why http://www.secondscount.org/heart-condition-centers/info-detail?cid=e9fece75-de89-4cc5-84a2-032eb7dfdf17
how does sleep help our health?