A good night’s sleep is one of those things that we just might
take for granted.
A lack of adequate sleep can have immediate effects, causing
accidents, impairing job performance, increasing blood pressure, and a host of
other unsavory things.
In our 24/7 world, the tools we have at our disposal to make
life “easier” tend to make us work longer hours instead of fewer. Stress is a
big factor in our collective lack of good sleep.
You may not realize that sleep issues are often symptoms of
other health problems that require medical attention. Some reports indicate
that as many as 90 percent of people who have insomnia have some other health
condition.
Lack of good, restful sleep on a regular basis puts us at
risk for some pretty serious issues. Our risk for heart disease, high blood
pressure, stroke, and diabetes increases. Insommia and depression tend to go
hand-in-hand and feed off of each other, creating a downward spiral.
Talk to your doctor if you have any of these signs of a
sleep disorder:
(from the National Institutes
of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
·
You consistently take more than 30 minutes each
night to fall asleep.
·
You consistently awaken several times each night
and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you awaken too early in the
morning.
·
You often feel sleepy during the day, you take
frequent naps, or you fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day.
·
Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you
snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short
periods.
·
You have creeping, tingling, or crawling
feelings in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them,
especially in the evening and when trying to fall asleep.
·
Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms
jerk often during sleep.
·
You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while
falling asleep or dozing.
·
You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when
you are angry or fearful, or when you laugh.
·
You feel as though you cannot move when you
first wake up.
Grinnell Regional Medical Center offers comprehensive sleep
lab services for the diagnosis of sleep disorders. Mercy Sleep Center operates
the sleep lab at GRMC with sleep tests completed three nights per week.
Melisa Coaker, MD, MA, with Mercy Sleep Center, provides
consultations and diagnosis for patients. She sees patients the first Tuesday
of each month in Grinnell.
For more information on sleep disorders, sleep studies, or
to schedule a sleep test, please call Mercy Sleep Center, at 515-358-9640.
For more information on healthy sleep, check out these
websites:
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