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effects of lack of sleep on your body healthmint medical centre cranbourne north

Effects of Lack of Sleep on your Body

By Body Systems, General Wellbeing, Lifestyle, Sleep, Uncategorized No Comments

Sleep is important to our body and helps our systems regulate and repair after our waking hours each day. Although sometimes life gets in the way and we find ourselves not getting enough sleep on occasion, longer term effects of not getting enough shut eye can lead to various health problems and also cause danger and impede judgement to yourself and others. Here we explore some surprising and scary effects that the lack of sleep can have on your body:

What are the some of the symptoms of a lack of sleep?

  • Fatigue
  • Irritability
  • Yawning
  • Moodiness
  • Forgetfulness
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Lack of motivation
  • Increased appetite

The body has to fight harder when you’re lacking sleep

A lack of sleep on the body prevents the body from having a strong immune system and makes it more prone to sicknesses and infection. It can also means that the body will take longer to heal from any existing illness and increases the chances of developing chronic illnesses and other serious health problems.

effects of lack of sleep on your body healthmint medical centre cranbourne northSerious health problems

Sleep disorders with chronic sleep loss can cause heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure just to name a few

A lack of sleep causes accidents

Around 20% of fatal road accidents involve driver fatigue. According to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Victoria, fatigue is a major cause of crashes resulting in some 50 deaths and approximately 300 serious injuries each year. Sleepiness and sleep deprivation can cause havoc on the roads and is a major problem when it comes to the road toll. Drowsiness can have the same affect on reaction time as drunk driving.

It’s not only the road toll that suffers, but accidents at work are more likely to occur when there is a lack of sleep. Workplace injuries are a very real concern and can have disastrous effects.

Extra weight without the eight!

By not getting the recommended average 8 hours of good-quality sleep a night to function properly, it can lead to weight gain. The two hormones in the body, leptin and ghrelin, control feelings of hunger and fullness, and these two hormones are directly affected by sleep!

Getting moody

A lack of sleep can affect your mood, and you can become more likely to have conflict with others in your personal relationships and at work. You may also feel less motivated to complete normal day-to-day tasks as well as pursue larger goals in life.

effects of lack of sleep on your body healthmint medical centre cranbourne northCan you reverse the effects of a lack of sleep?

Sleep debt is accumulated when there is a lack of sleep and you can enter a sleep deficit. You can settle short term debt by adding a couple of extra hours of sleep over the following week if you are 10 hours or less behind in sleep.

Of course the best way to avoid the effects of a lack of sleep is to get the recommended 7-9 hours of good quality shut eye each night.

 

If you are feeling the effects of a lack of sleep, it may be time to look at the reasons why you are depriving your body of it. Both intentional and unintentional reasons cause the same effects. No matter if you are staying up too late, have shift work, demanding jobs, family obligations or young babies, these are all common causes. By addressing the reasons why, choices can be made to improve the quality and time spent in the land of nod!

If you are concerned about the amount of sleep you are (or are not getting!) then book an appointment with one of the Independent GPs who consult at HealthMint. They may be able to assist you with the causes and treatment options for short and long-term sleep issues.

healthmint medical centre chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms and Treatments

By Chronic Disease, Lifestyle, Sleep No Comments
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), is a chronic illness that affects a person’s nervous system.
It can affect all ages – children and adults, and can begin or occur at any life stage.
If you’re feeling an overwhelming sense of fatigue and complete lack of energy, it may be something to address, especially you have been sleeping for a normal amount of time each night.

 

The causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are not completely known. For some, the condition may be suddenly triggered by toxic exposure, a viral infection, immunisation, gastroenteritis, anaesthetic, or a trauma. In others, CFS may develop slowly over months or years.

healthmint medical centre chronic fatigue syndrome

What are the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? 

Although it can be hard to get a firm diagnosis of CFS, here are some of the most common signs and symptoms that you may want to be on the look out for:

1.Feeling extremely fatigued after exercise:

The most outstanding characteristic of CFS is exhaustion. This represents itself in flu-like symptoms after exercise and not having enough energy for daily activities. While it’s normal to feel a little bit tired after exercise, it is important to identify if these feelings last longer than 24 hours. If a good nights sleep hasn’t done enough to restore you after a work out, it might be a good idea to consider consulting your GP.

2. Lack of memory and focus:

Those struggling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome often feel depleted of energy, which can go hand in had with the struggle to focus and remember things throughout the day. A loss in concentration and memory is not a normal occurrence and should raise questions regarding how your system is functioning. Problems with thinking, being clumsy, having muscle twitching and/or tingle can also be combined to form part of the diagnosis.

3. Up and down body temperature:

Abnormal fluctuations can be a sign of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A combination of other symptoms along with feelings of being hot one moment and freezing the next would have to be looked at by your GP.

Effects of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The effects Chronic Fatigue Syndrome will differ between individuals and according to Better Health Channel, they can be categorised into three levels of severity.

  1. Mild – the person’s activity is reduced by at least 50 percent
  2. Moderate – the person is mostly housebound
  3. Very severe – the person is bed bound and dependent on help for daily care

The stigma of CFS can also play a part in affecting the wellness or mental load of the condition with the community wrongly thinking that a person is just tired, to just push through or that it is all in their head.

Treatments for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is severely disabling, and there is currently no known cure. There are over the counter and prescription medications that can however, ease the symptoms. Those with CFS usually have to trial many different medicines to find what works. The most commonly used treatments are antidepressants, analgesics, sedatives, and B vitamins. The best way to find out if a treatment is suitable is to book an appointment with a GP.

Home treatments for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can include managing physical activity and keeping it at a level that is comfortable and does not cause over exertion. This is very much an individual treatment and will vary person to person depending on the severity of the condition. Total rest however should be avoided as it may make fatigue worse. If there is a need to increase the level of physical activity, it should be done so gradually and possibly under the guidance of a health care professional.

Some symptoms may affect some more than others. For example, a lack of memory and concentration and constantly waking up feeling unrested might debilitate some, muscle pain, headaches and fatigue might hinder others completely from undergoing their daily activities. It is best to speak to your GP about addressing and tackling you toughest symptoms first – the ones that interfere the most with your daily life.

If sleep just isn’t doing enough for you and the above symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome resonate with you, you may want to book an appointment to seek the advice from an independent HealthMint GP to get a proper diagnosis.

 

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