{"id":3248,"date":"2019-08-09T22:20:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T22:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/?p=3248"},"modified":"2020-10-20T18:25:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T18:25:15","slug":"how-sleep-impacts-physical-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/how-sleep-impacts-physical-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sleep Impacts Physical &#038; Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you aren\u2019t getting enough sleep in Portland, you are putting your physical and mental health at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Experts have long recommended a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night (eight is ideal). Yet many Americans don\u2019t put in the effort to ensure they reach this goal. Blame it on technology, or Netflix, or simply an attitude that sleep isn\u2019t important. Evidence shows that it is.<\/p>\n<h2>What Happens When You Don\u2019t Get Enough Sleep?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Sleep Impacts Physical &amp; Mental Health\" src=\"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/sleep.jpg\" alt=\"woman trying to sleep\" width=\"562\" height=\"374\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3249\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Oregon residents who don\u2019t catch enough zzz\u2019s suffer a host of consequences, starting with daytime fatigue and including an increased risk of hypertension, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/diabetes\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20371444\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Diabetes Symptoms and Causes | Mayo Clinic\">diabetes<\/a>, stroke and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/topics\/depression\/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Depression\">depression<\/a>. Other factors that are more likely as a result of too little sleep include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Accidents and injuries<\/strong>. Sleep deprivation slows down your reaction time, increasing your risk of suffering an accident-related injury. Chances are, you\u2019ve heard of Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez and Chernobyl. What do these global disasters have in common? All were linked, at least in part, to a lack of sleep.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduced mental alertness<\/strong>. Those slower reaction times are associated with a reduction in mental alertness. Not getting enough sleep leads to poor attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning and problem-solving skills and memory impairment. It can affect academic and job performance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Low sex drive<\/strong>. Relationships may also suffer from too little sleep. Reduced energy levels cause anxiety and stress, factors that interfere with your sex drive. For men with <a href=\"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/ent\/sleep\/sleep-apnea\/\" title=\"Sleep Apnea | PDX ENT\">sleep apnea<\/a>, the problem is compounded; this sleep disorder causes breathing disruptions and reduced oxygen levels, leading to less testosterone production.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Skin issues. <\/strong>Chronic sleep deprivation signals the body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that damages collagen in the skin. This leads to an unhealthy complexion, age lines, puffiness and dark circles under the eyes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Weight gain.<\/strong> When you get a good night\u2019s sleep, your body releases a natural appetite suppressant. On the other hand, poor sleep triggers the release of a compound that acts as a hunger stimulant. Studies indicate that people who consistently sleep poorly have a 30 percent higher risk of obesity. And the lack of energy mentioned above makes exercising more difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unfortunately, many people in Portland experiencing symptoms such as these downplay their significance or write them off as inevitable side effects of aging, never making the association between their health and sleeping habits. They would be wise to listen to the experts, however; one research study out of Britain found that individuals who reduced the amount of sleep they received every night from seven hours to five nearly doubled their risk of death from all causes. Heart disease proved especially problematic.<\/p>\n<p>Sleep disorders aren\u2019t always obvious. Your <a href=\"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/hearing-aid-specialist-in-portland-oregon\/\" title=\"Hearing Aid Specialist | PDX ENT\">Portland ear, nose and throat specialist<\/a> recommends undergoing a <a href=\"https:\/\/pdxent.com\" title=\"Somnoplasty | PDX ENT\">sleep<\/a> test if you are experiencing any of the symptoms we mentioned \u2013 especially if you feel tired or groggy during the day. Doing so is in your own best interest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you aren\u2019t getting enough sleep in Portland, you are putting your physical and mental health at risk. Experts have long recommended a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night (eight is ideal). Yet many Americans don\u2019t put in the effort to ensure they reach this goal. Blame it on technology, or Netflix, or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"503-222-3638 Portland | If you aren\u2019t getting enough sleep in Portland, you are putting your physical and mental health at risk.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pdxent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}