| By :
Wiley Long
Lack of sleep can make you gain weight. When you're sleepy, especially at work, it's easy to drink coffee, or soft drinks along with unhealthy junk food to raise your blood sugar quickly before your boss notices. Unfortunately, that temporary fix has more long-lasting negative consequences that just packing on pounds. Obesity has become an equal, if not greater, contributor to disease than smoking, according to researchers at Columbia University. Researchers say that smoking has a greater impact on deaths, but obesity has a stronger effect on illness. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Health showed that from 1993 to 2008, the proportion of smokers among U.S. adults declined by 18.5 percent, but the proportion of obese adults increased by an extraordinary 85 percent. How Lack of Sleep Leads to Weight Gain If you're not getting enough good quality sleep, your metabolism doesn't function properly, according to Michael Breus, PhD. He's the author of Beauty Sleep, and the clinical director of the sleep division for Arrowhead Health in Glendale, Ariz. Breus says that people typically need about 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night. Don't expect to lose ten pounds by sleeping a full eight hours if you're already sleeping 7.5 hours a night, but you can expect to drop weight if you go from just five hours of sleep a night to seven hours a night. That weight loss is due to our nightly hormones. Two hormones (ghrelin and leptin) are key to how this works. The ghrelin hormone tells you when to eat, and you have more ghrelin when you are sleep-deprived. Another hormone, leptin, tells you when to stop eating, and you have less leptin when you are sleep-deprived. Lack of sleep can take control of your weight if you don't intervene. Sleep Deprivation Has Far-reaching Effects Lack of sleep also degrades your performance more than you may realize. Staying awake for 24 hours is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .05 in terms of performance, and that's the same as being legally drunk. You may also be at greater risk of illness if you don't sleep enough because sleep is a healing process that affects the immune system. Data also indicates that sleep deprivation may accelerate aging and degrade memory. What Causes Sleep Deprivation? Caffeine, excitement, pain, or worry are some of the things that keep us awake at night. Although drinking alcoholic beverages causes us to fall asleep faster, it disrupts sleep later in the night. Nocturnal asthma attacks can also disrupt sleep, and the chances of asthma symptoms are greater during sleep. Nocturnal cough, trouble breathing, and wheezing are common, and potentially dangerous. Studies show that most deaths related to asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, happen at night. Breathing disorders, depression, heart disease, and a variety of other problems can interrupt sleep, too. One common disorder, called sleep apnea, refers to an obstruction of the nose or throat due to a deviated nasal septum, or enlarged tonsils. This can result in pauses in breathing during sleep. Jerking of the legs while sleeping, called nocturnal myoclonus, can also disrupt sleep. Before resorting to sleeping pills, rule out medical reasons that can make it hard to get enough quality sleep, and could be warning signs of an underlying problem. How can you find a doctor who specializes in conditions that disrupt sleep? The American Board of Sleep Medicine certifies doctors and researchers as "Board Certified" in sleep medicine. Dentists who treat sleep disorders with oral appliances are often members of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Does Health Insurance in Florida Cover Sleeping Disorders? With respect to prescriptions, coverage from Florida Health Insurance Plans depends on the type of drug, and whether it's a brand name or generic. Health Insurance Plans in Florida typically pick up at least part of the cost of prescriptions for antidepressants and off-label hypnotics. That is also true for sleeping drugs, and medications for narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome. You'll need to compare Florida Health Insurance Plans to see which cover cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, or group it into their mental health benefits. Many do not cover cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, but some may reimburse you for all or part of your sessions. As sleep disorders become more prominent and the underlying science is better understood, it's becoming easier to find Health Insurance for Florida that covers treatments for conditions that disrupt sleep.
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