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The effects of not getting enough sleep are clearly depicted in this cartoon picture. How many of us can relate to this picture were we have fallen asleep at the most improbable times causing us to be embarrasses or worse. There are dangers with falling asleep at the wrong time and it is important to address this issue before a serious accident occurs.

Falling asleep at your desk is not a huge problem as far as risk goes, but what about falling asleep while driving your car or operating some kind of power tool or machinery.  This can be catastrophic, even dangerous to life. your own and others are put at risk when you fall asleep while driving or operating machinery.

There are health risks as well. Mild sleep deprivation will cause everything to slow down, thought processes and metabolism. We eat more to give us energy and this result sin weight gain and all of the associated issues that this can generate. From high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, joint problems and much more.  These in turn can cause strokes and heart attacks and a spiral downwards if it really gets serious.

Many people have to deal with this problem every day. Some sleep deprivations is caused by eating habits, life style and then there are underlying health issues. If you feel that you have eliminated things like caffeine and other life style causes such as exercise late at night, then there might be an under lying health related condition that you may want to have your doctor look at.  Before you go to the doctor check out all of the things that people can do to help them sleep better. We have listed a few below which you can work on, but if these do not work, then it is time to get help. Don’t hesitate especially if you are chronically fatigued. Get help from your doctor.

What Can You Do to Deal with the Effects of Not Getting Enough Sleep

The primary thing to do is to focus on getting more sleep. You may be already doing some of these things, however try them all to see what works and what does not work. Also manage your expectations. It may take a week or two before you begin to see results. You basically need to retrain your body to sleep more. here is a list of steps people can consider to help them sleep better:

• Eliminate caffeine from your diet – coffee, tea, chocolate etc
• Eliminate alcohol at least 5 hours before going to bed
• Avoid eating before you go to bed
• Avoid watching the news, or stimulating movies before going to bed
• Select things that are calming to you before going to bed – a dull book is great
• Avoid exercise for 4 hours before going to bed
• Focus on relaxing prior to bed
• Do not turn on the TV or radio in the middle of the night if you wake up

There may be other steps people use to help them relax before going to bed. Send us a comment if you have other steps that work for you. But we hope you get the idea in regards to preparing for sleep at night. If after a month of this type of regime you find that you still are not sleeping, check in with the doctor. Take notes of what you have been doing and how much you have been sleeping along with any medications that you might be taking. All of this information will be helpful to the doctor when they make an assessment.

Under Lying Health Issues

There can be lots of reasons for not sleeping caused by health issues. The trick is to eliminate all of the possibilities to ensure that there is nothing related to health issues. For example the writer has sleep apnea. This kept myself as well as my partner awake for hours and when we did sleep we would wake up often because of the snoring and the gasping when I did not breathe.

Once I dealt with this issue, I no longer snore and both of us now get an excellent nights sleep! The answer in my case is a CPAP machine with a nasal pillow mask. This solved the problem and now I feel rested every day and get a fantastic nights sleep. This is only one example of how a health issue can cause someone to not get enough sleep. It has lowered my blood pressure, lowered by heart rate and caused me to eat less during the day as well because I now have the energy that I need.

Don’t hesitate, deal with your sleep loss now, since the effects of not getting enough sleep can effect your family and your work! For more information about the health effects of not getting enough sleep, click here.

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