Sleep – Are YOU getting enough
Sleep – why it REALLY matters, and how much do you REALLY need.
We all feel bad when we haven’t had enough sleep, but did you know that sleep deprivation is strongly associated with serious diseases like diabetes, heart disease, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Even just one night of poor sleep can make a difference to both your physical and mental performance the following day.
So how little is too little? Well, most people need 7-8 hours sleep per night. While missing one hour, in one night will probably have little effect, missing two or more hours sleep, even on only one night can already begin to impair both your physical and your mental performance. For example, you are much more likely to have a car accident!
My patients quite often claim that they don’t need as much sleep as other people, that, say 5 hours per night is enough for them. However, tests show time and again that this is just not true. For example, if their blood sugar levels are tested first thing in the morning, the chances are, they would be raised to an unhealthy level. The same goes for their reaction times. Insomnia is also associated with poor mood control. Sleep deprived people are far more likely to lose their tempers and be irritable.
So many of my patients suffer from insomnia, and it’s not a straight forward condition to work with, as there are so many potential underlying causes.
There are herbal and nutritional remedies which can help, for example, lavender can be extremely helpful, but until the underlying causes have been identified and systematically addressed, that good night can be elusive.
Watch out for my next post with some top tips for better sleep.