The Importance of a Good Night's Sleep

A good night’s sleep is essential in helping your body rest, recover and feel good the next day.
Many chiropractic patients will tell you how not only how much better they feel after a chiropractic adjustment, but also how much better they sleep: both how much sleep they get and the quality of the sleep.  This makes sense - when you sleep, your body is trying to repair problems that have occurred while we are awake.  When you have a subluxation - chiropractic jargon for a bone out of alignment that is pinching a nerve - there is interference to the body doing it's job.  If it is trying to fix a problem, you will not get good sleep.  Have you ever woken up and felt like you went 15 rounds in your sleep and almost worse than when you went to bed?  By removing the subluxation and so the interference to the body doing it's job, the body goes back to doing it's job as close to 100% as possible and you get better quality and quantity of sleep!

Let’s look at some stats and studies: 37% of Americans fail to get a good night's sleep! Consumer Health Sciences, 2008.

People Taking Drugs. 48 million prescriptions were filled last year, with $3.6 billion spent. IMS Health, 2007.  Lunesta made $949 million last year! drugs.com, 2011.

Children’s Sleeping Problems. There were18.6 million doctor visits by children with sleeping problems and 81% of them were given a prescription. Sleep, 2007.

Is Technology Before Bed a Bad Idea?: 3400 messages are sent per month at bedtime! 77.5% of kids have problems falling asleep and were awakened once per night by a technology device. 50% of kids who text or surf the internet at bedtime have problems falling asleep. They experience mood, behavior and cognitive problems including: ADHD, anxiety, depression and learning difficulties. American College of CHEST Physicians, 2010.

Sleep Is Money. US Loses $63 billion a year to insomnia. 23% of employees have insomnia, costing the average American worker 11.3 days, or $2,280 in lost productivity a year. American Insomnia Study, 2011.

Can Sleep Loss Make Me Gain Weight? Women sleeping 5 hours or less a night were 32% more likely to gain at least 33 lbs, compared to those who slept at least 7 hours. The weight gain was due to a metabolic change. Reuters, 2006.

Top 10 Health Benefits of a Good Night's Sleep
1. A Healthy Heart: Lack of sleep has been associated with high blood pressure & high cholesterol. Your heart will be healthier if you get 7-9 hours of sleep a night.
Naps for the Heart. Those who napped 30 mins, 3x/wk, were 37% less likely to die from a heart problem. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007
2. May Decrease Risk of Cancer: People working late shifts have a higher risk for breast & colon cancer. The extra light exposure at night suppresses melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that makes us sleepy & appears to suppress the growth of tumors. Keep your bedroom dark to help produce melatonin.
3. Reduces Stress: When your body is sleep deficient, it goes into a state of stress. This causes an increase in blood pressure & production of stress hormones. Higher blood pressure increases your risk for heart attacks & strokes. Stress hormones make it harder to sleep, so try relaxation techniques.
4. Reduces Inflammation: Stress hormones increase inflammation & the risk for heart problems, cancer & diabetes. Inflammation contributes to the aging process.
5. Be More Alert: A good night's sleep makes you feel energized & alert. Being active not only feels good, it ups the odds for another good night's sleep.
6. Improves Memory: While resting, your brain processes your day, connecting events, sensory input, feelings
& memories. Dreams & deep sleep are important for your brain to make memories & links.
7. Lose Weight: People who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to be overweight or obese. Hormones called ghrelin & leptin regulate appetite & are disrupted by lack of sleep.
8. Naps Make You Smarter: Napping several times a week lowers the risk for heart disease, improves memory,
improves cognitive function, improves mood, protects your health & makes you more productive.
9. Reduces Depression Risk: Lack of sleep decreases serotonin production which can lead to depression.
10. Helps the Body Repair: Sleep is a time for your body to repair damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays & other harmful exposures. Your cells produce more protein while you sleep & the protein forms the building blocks for cells, allowing them to repair damage. Mark Stibich, PhDSolutions

In the next blog, I'll give you some natural solutions to better sleep without using drugs.  And of course, one of them is getting regular chiropractic adjustments;)