A bad night of sleep here and there is common, but if you’re consistently not sleeping well, it could have negative long-term effects on your body. Here are four things that could happen to your body if you’re not getting enough sleep:
Lowered Immune System
If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to get sick if you’re exposed to a virus. It can also impact how quickly you recover if you do indeed get sick.
Sleep gives your immune system a boost. Your body builds up against infections, inflammation when you’re sleeping. It can also help fight stress. However, if you’re not getting the proper amount of sleep (seven to nine hours), your immune system will be weaker.
Lack of Focus
If you’ve ever had a bad night of sleep, the next day was likely a challenge at work or at school. Imagine that being your every-day reality.
When you have eight or more hours of sleep, you have a better memory, better decision-making skills, and an increased reaction time and alertness. Of course, with a poor night of sleep, all of those decrease.
It’s also proven that consistent quality sleep helps with a person’s long-term learning ability and memory.
Think of sleep as a way to store away the information that you learned during that day.
Unwanted Weight Gain
Many people who don’t get enough sleep end up gaining unwanted weight. Studies show that those who sleep less than five hours per night are more likely to gain weight and deal with obesity.
It makes sense considering in those hours that someone isn’t sleeping, that person could be eating. It also leaves a person with less energy to create healthy meals and exercise throughout the day.
Getting enough sleep will give you the energy to stay healthy in the days ahead and will keep you away from the snack drawer when you should be sleeping.
Vision Problems
Similar to how your body heals itself with sleep, your eyes do the same. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, that can cause bloodshot, dry, or itchy eyes. It can lead to you making dramatic blinks throughout the day in order to get more moisture in your eyes. If you fail to get enough sleep over a long period of time, it can result in serious eye problems such as glaucoma.
Sweet Dreams Are Made of These
If you’re concerned about your quality of sleep, schedule a visit to be evaluated at Whitney Sleep. We encourage you to set up an appointment at one of our Minnesota locations. Get better sleep: contact us today at masonw@whitneysleepcenter.com or visit our website.