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Many Canadians find themselves lying in bed reading or tossing and turning, waiting for dawn to break due to an increasing prevalence of insomnia. But hold on, insomnia is not the only cause of sleepless nights. Canadians see a significant uptick in sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that not only interrupts your sleep and leaves you feeling exhausted but can lead to more serious health conditions.
Did you know that increasing body weight significantly affects your sleep and not only increasing weight but where you carry the weight? If males have a neck circumference of more than 17 inches and females 16 inches, you are in the apnea danger zone.
This article examines Canadian sleep statistics to bring you the salient points for making decisive decisions about your health and how you can improve your sleep patterns.
We will provide factual information on how you can enhance your sleep hygiene.
Let's get into it.
(1)Canada loses approximately 6 million working hours due to sleep disorders.
In Canada, the costs of insomnia symptoms were $1.9 billion, $12.6 million, and $1.9 billion in 2021, respectively. This amount equals 1.9% of Canada's overall cost of illness burden in 2021. Type 2 diabetes ($754 million) and depression ($706 million) were the 2 most expensive chronic disorders linked to insomnia symptoms.
(2)Prescription medications were the most significant factor in the expense of type 2 diabetes and depression. A 5% reduction in insomnia symptoms (from 23.8% to 18.8%) would result in an estimated $353 million in costs that would not have been incurred. In contrast, a 5% rise in insomnia symptoms (from 23.8% to 28.8%) would result in an estimated $333 million in costs that would have been incurred.
Many public health issues are caused by inadequate sleep. For instance, there are unmistakable connections between sleep deprivation and seven of the top fifteen killers in the United States, such as accidents, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease.
Additionally, getting too little sleep has a negative impact on cognition and productivity. When we are exhausted, we don't think or work as clearly. Numerous tragic events, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Chernobyl nuclear accident, were caused by insufficient sleep.
Other industrialized nations like the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and the US are also affected by the issue of insufficient sleep, which is not just a Canadian issue. Evidence suggests that the percentage of people who get less sleep than the advised amount is increasing and is linked to problems related to a modern 24/7 society, including psychosocial stress, alcoholism, smoking, lack of physical activity, and excessive use of electronic media, among others.
A loss of energy, problems remembering things, a shortened attention span, sluggish thinking, decreased sex drive, poor decision-making, irritability, daytime sleepiness, and other mood changes might result from insufficient sleep.
Depending on your age, you'll require a different quantity of sleep, but generally speaking, kids need more sleep than adults to maintain their growth and development. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided a helpful chart on the amount of sleep that people should get depending on their age:
According to (4) Abhinav Singh, MD, the Indiana Sleep Center medical director, "sleep disorders are a group of illnesses that are defined by either insufficient or poor quality sleep." "In some cases, this can involve poor wakefulness that impairs the ability to perform at your best during the day."
When a person exhibits specific symptoms, such as trouble falling asleep at night and excessive daytime sleepiness, a healthcare expert can determine whether they have a sleep disorder.
The diagnosis can often be obtained after your doctor's complete clinical evaluation, which typically entails a detailed history of the presenting issues, sleep logs, and sometimes sleep studies.
There are more than 100 identified sleep disorders. These are some of the most common:
Sleep disorders are increasing at an alarming rate, and citizens should be concerned about them.
The statistics are startling regarding vehicle accidents and the number of unnecessary deaths caused by sleep deprivation.
According to sleep research, up to 20% of Canadians have dozed off behind the wheel. Around 21% of traffic accidents result from drowsy driving or genuine sleepy driving. The likelihood of falling asleep while driving was highest among those who slept for fewer than six hours.
(5)Every hour of sleep lost raises the likelihood of an automobile accident. A car collision was more likely to be caused by someone who had slept six hours than someone who had slept less than four hours, which was 15.1 times more likely to cause one.
Each year, 400 people die in crashes brought on by being too tired to drive or falling asleep at the wheel, and 2,100 more suffer serious injuries.
Yes, sleep deprivation has an impact on your immune system. According to studies, those who don't get enough or good sleep are more likely to become ill after contracting a virus like the one that causes the common cold. If you become ill, lack of sleep may slow your recovery.
Your(5) immune system produces proteins called cytokines while you sleep, some of which aid in sleep promotion. Some cytokines need to rise when you have an infection, inflammation, or stress.
Lack of sleep may result in less of these protective cytokines being produced. Additionally, when you don't get enough sleep, your body produces fewer cells and antibodies to fight infections when you don't get enough sleep.
Your body, therefore, requires sleep to combat infectious infections. Long-term sleep deprivation also raises your risk of developing diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
How many hours of sleep are necessary to strengthen your immune system? Seven to eight hours of restful sleep every night is ideal for most adults. Teens require nine to ten hours of sleep per night. School-age children may require 10 hours or more of sleep.
But getting more rest isn't always a good idea. Adults who sleep for longer than nine to ten hours each night may experience poorer sleep quality, including trouble falling or staying asleep.
However, Sleep deprivation can have severe consequences for your health as listed below (6):
Sleep deprivation will eventually have a detrimental effect on the other pillars of health. It may make it more difficult for you to maintain a healthy diet and/or a regular exercise routine.
For instance, lack of sleep impairs your ability to regulate your blood sugar, causing you to crave carbohydrates (sugary food). Late dinners, snacks, and a high-sugar diet will reduce sleep quality.
Lack of sleep also affects mood and motivation, which may affect how frequently you engage in physical activity or prevent you from starting. Your sleep quality will suffer due to this decreased physical activity, worsening your already existing sleep deficit.
All these cumulative effects, as well as the accumulation of stress and an inability to manage your emotions related to sleep deprivation, could eventually lead to insomnia problems, such as difficulty falling asleep at night, fragmentation of your sleep or the inability to sleep for long periods at night.
Here are the consequences as you slide into the vortex of lack of sleep (6):
There are ways you can self help to create a better sleeping environment such as:
Avoid becoming sleep deprived at all costs: If you try these strategies and still find it difficult to unwind or if your sleep quality worsens, be sure to see your doctor or a mental health expert.
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