Serving Patients in the areas of Grand Rapids, Holland, and Big Rapids MIAs a child, you might have railed against bedtime and naptime. After adulthood begins, however, getting sleep often becomes one of life’s finest luxuries. As Thanksgiving approaches, your sleep dentistry doctors at TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan have compiled this list of five reasons why you should be thankful for good sleep.
Getting the proper amount of sleep is a crucial component of any fitness and weight-loss plan. If you are not sleeping enough on a nightly basis, it places additional stress on your body, which reacts by holding onto fat. This makes it harder to burn calories, even if you are exercising and eating a low-fat diet.
If you are well rested, it is easier to learn new things. You have a greater ability to focus. Your memory improves. Think about how you feel after a sleepless night or short rest. You may feel clumsy the next morning, make careless mistakes or typos, or forget things that you otherwise remember.
Usually, when you contract an illness, your body has an instinct to rest. In the same way that more sleep can help you fight off a cold or a case of the flu, getting enough quality sleep on a nightly basis lowers your risk of contracting a chronic illness such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
In many cases, stress and sleep go hand in hand. If you are stressed out, you may have difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep. By contrast, if you are suffering from insomnia, this in and of itself can be a source of stress. When you consistently do not get the proper amount of quality sleep, your mood changes. You become more irritable, and minor inconveniences might provoke fits of anger. Getting a full night’s sleep on a regular basis helps reduce your stress levels, allowing you to reclaim a normal sleeping pattern.
Forcing yourself out of a regular sleep schedule—either by staying up too late or sleeping in on weekends or days off—can affect your body as well as your mental state. Reclaim or resume good sleeping habits to help improve or maintain your mental health.
Sleep apnea is a serious breathing disorder that occurs when the airway becomes impeded or completely blocked while sleeping. These airway disruptions interrupt the flow of oxygen, and the brain sends signals to the body as if it is choking. You may not wake consciously, but the sleep cycle is disrupted and you are deprived of the restoration to mind and body that occur during the deepest period of sleep. These disruptions leave you feeling tired, no matter how early your bedtime might be. Over time, the consequences of sleep apnea go beyond just feeling fatigued. You also face a higher risk factor of chronic health ailments such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and cognitive decline. Recent medical research also has found a potential link between sleep apnea and the likelihood of developing cancer.
Have you been feeling fatigued on a frequent basis? Has your sleeping partner noticed you are snoring loudly at night? This combination of symptoms is enough to warrant being screened for a sleep breathing disorder. The sleep apnea doctors in Grand Rapids at TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan have specialized training focusing on the care of the airway. We can perform an airway evaluation—a simple examination to detect whether or not an airway obstruction exists, and then what type of treatment may be needed to restore normal airflow.
To learn more about how we treat sleep apnea in the Big Rapids area or to schedule an airway evaluation for yourself or someone you love, contact our office at (616) 458-0631 to schedule a consultation.
TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan is here to treat sleep apnea for patients in the areas of Big Rapids, Grand Rapids, and Holland in Michigan.
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