Sleep. We hate it as children but love it as adults. Remember when naps were a form of punishment? Now, as grown-ups, we feel punished if we are made to miss them. As youngsters, we thrived on late nights, now we most sincerely regret them. What changed over the course of time?

Sleep is such a vital necessity to our bodies; without it, we struggle to function. It does not take much for our brains get tired and it then becomes difficult to think clearly. Our reflexes become slower and our fine motor skills become less precise. We will stop responding emotionally to stimuli. However, when we miss a lot of sleep, it can have serious, sometimes fatal effects. If the depravity of sleep continues, we will experience” micro-sleeps” where the brain shuts off for 5-10 seconds at a time as it desperately seeks REM sleep. This is especially dangerous because if it continues, you will lose consciousness because the brain needs a rest badly. This can be fatal.

In the mid-1800s, Sigmund Freud, who was a popular Austrian neurologist conducted countless experiments on many topics. While many of his hypothesis has since been proved errant, he was quite brilliant for his time and often caused quite a stir with his various “findings” and discoveries. For one such experiment, Freud used rats to study sleep patterns. He realized that there are five stages of sleep; the best and deepest type of sleep is what we call a “REM sleep.” He deducted that this fifth stage is when we have dreams, and when our brains slip into the most restful sleep. He was curious and decided to see what would happen if he woke the rats up each time they drifted into their REM stage. It did not take long before the rats died.

Studies show that the average adult needs between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. Did you know that women actually need, on average, about 20 more minutes of sleep per night than men do? Many researchers attribute this to the fact that women think, and multi-task, far more, day-to-day, than men do. Did you also know that if you live to be 67 years old, you will spend about 208,000 hours of your life sleeping? That equates to just over 20 years sleeping – an entire 33% of your lifespan!

Do not settle for sleep apnea health issues

Have you ever wondered why sleep is so important? Well, studies suggest that our brains need that time to recuperate and “reload” our deposits of energy. Many researchers also believe that most of your body’s growth and development occurs during your sleep. Shut-eye is needed to consolidate information learned during the day as some studies show that without sleep, people tended to forget more information they learned previously. Rest helps our brains and bodies to “recharge” so they will have new energy for the next day. We also need sleep to stay in a good mood – without it, people become irritable and disorientated. In addition, sleep allows the body to replace red and white blood cells easier.
If you are having trouble sleeping, tell someone about it. A lack of sleep is not only unhealthy, but it is dangerous to both you, and those around you.

Are you dealing with sleep apnea health issues?

If you have morning headaches, depression, mood swings, learning or memory issues, concentration problems, personality changes, dry mouth, frequent nocturnal urination, or irritability, you should go seek help. Suffering from any of these issues due to a lack of sleep is neither fun nor fair. Go visit your doctor and ask them what they recommend. The solution could be very simple. Research shows that people who go to bed directly after watching TV or playing on their phones do not sleep as restfully as those who do not. The answer could be as easy as saying no screen-time for half an hour prior to bed.
However, it could be a little more complicated. This is why Virtuox is here to help with our sleep apnea study devices. Using our high-tech sleep apnea study equipment, we will monitor your brainwaves as you sleep to figure out why you have a difficult time getting shut-eye. If being in a hospital overnight make you nervous, no problem. We offer in-home sleep tests, too, so you can rest in the comfort of your own bed.