Rest IS Best Importance of sleep on health and well-being.

By Ashley Carlson, DPT, ATC, MTC, OP Coordinator  Life Care Center of Estero

That sounds good doesn’t it? Let’s all rest more.  I mean, you have always been told that getting enough sleep is important…

but why? Getting enough sleep can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life and overall safety.

Physical Health:
Sleep is necessary to allow your body to rest
for overall healing and repair.  Ongoing sleep deficiencies are linked to an increased risk for heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.

Lack of sleep increases risk for obesity and diabetes due to an inbalance of hormones that make you feel hungry or full. Sleep is responsible for maintaining this balance.  Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, responsible for blood sugar control.

Your immune system relies on sleep to maintain health and defend your body against infections.
It supports healthy growth and development and plays an important role in puberty and fertility.

Healthy brain function/Emotional well-being:
Sleep helps your brain to function properly. While you sleep your brain is forming new pathways to help you learn and remember.  Decreased amounts of sleep will impact learning abilities and problem solving skills.  Sleep
deficiency has also been linked to depression, suicide, mood swings, sadness and decreased motivation.

Daytime performance and safety
Those who don’t get a sufficient amount of sleep are shown to be less productive at work and school. Even a loss of 1-2 hours of sleep at night after several nights your body functions as if it hasn’t slept at all for 1-2 days.

It has been shown that sleep deficiency can impair daily functions including impairing
your driving ability even more than driving intoxicated. According to the National Highway Safety Administration an estimated 100,000 car accidents a year are the result of driving with lack of sleep, resulting in 1,550 deaths.  It can also impair function at work and has been shown to be linked to tragic accidents at work.

As you can see from above sleep is VERY important.  While everyone’s individual sleep needs vary, in general, healthy adults need an average of 8 hours of sleep at night.  Some individuals may be able to function without impact on as little of 6 hours while others can’t perform at their peak unless they’ve slept 10.

A survey performed by the National Sleep
Foundation reveled that at least 40 million
Americans suffer from over 70 difference sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems several nights a week.  If you are struggling with sleep, consult your physician to see what steps can be taken to improve how you rest.  Rest is BEST.

We here at Life Care of Estero are here to improve the health of the community for which we serve.  As part of this vision, we provide a team of highly skilled Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists and the latest in cutting edge rehabilitation technology such as the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill and the Biodex balance system to help you regain your independence and facilitate you reaching your personalized goals.

Please call our outpatient rehabilitation department at (239) 495-4046 if you have any questions or think we can help you maintain your functional independence.

239.495.4000 | 3850 Williams Rd. | Estero, FL 33928 | www.lifecarecenterofestero.com