December 17, 2021
Need Better Sleep? Coryell Can Help.
If you want to improve your health and your mood, the first step might be to get better sleep. Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on your body and may result in both short- and long-term physical and psychological problems. Sleep deprivation can:
- Limit your ability to form new memories, reason properly, pay attention, react quickly or make decisions.
- Make you more susceptible to infections and respiratory disease, which also may take longer to resolve when you’re sleep-deprived since our bodies use that sleep time to heal.
- Increase your fat storage and increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Sleep triggers the release of insulin and affects the hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness.
- Cause your body to release additional stress hormones, making you feel anxious, frustrated or cranky. This also may cause headaches, increase your sensitivity to pain, and cause more serious health concerns.
How much sleep do you need?
Just how much sleep is enough? Well, that depends on a host of factors. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that during a 24-hour period, most adults ages 18-64 should get 7-9 hours, and ages 65 and up should get 7-8 hours.
But each person is different and may require more or less sleep. Other factors need to be considered, such as how physically active you are, personal and family medical history, gender, occupation and your average stress levels. If you’re getting the recommended hours of sleep but are frequently tired, require caffeine to “get you through the day,” or are experiencing any symptoms of sleep deprivation, call the Coryell Health Sleep Center.
Our team of board-certified sleep physicians can advise you on how to best prepare your body for sleep and prevent outside influences from waking you up before you’re ready. He or she can also determine whether or not you have a serious sleep condition, like sleep apnea, that’s interfering with your ability to get adequate rest, and prescribe a personalized treatment plan.
A serious condition
Sleep apnea is a common medical disorder, in which you repeatedly stop breathing while you sleep. Though it can affect anyone, sleep apnea is more common in men. Age, weight and smoking can increase your risk.
There are three types of sleep apnea: central, obstructive and complex. Central sleep apnea occurs because your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control your breathing. This type of sleep apnea isn’t characterized by loud snoring. However, obstructive sleep apnea is.
Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by an upper airway obstruction that we see most often in overweight patients. It is the most common form of sleep apnea and is more often found in male patients. During sleep, the muscles that control your airways become relaxed. If they’re too relaxed, your airway can become blocked, causing your body to stop breathing. When this happens, your brain has to tell your body to breathe. This process is very stressful to your brain and heart and can leave you feeling drained the next morning, despite a full night’s sleep.
Complex sleep apnea is a combination of both central and obstructive sleep apnea, and the condition can be diagnosed by a sleep specialist.
How Coryell Health can help
Accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the Coryell Health Sleep Center is dedicated to helping patients achieve a better night’s sleep and better quality of life. We utilize a sleep study called polysomnography to determine what kind of medical condition you have and formulate a personalized treatment plan.
During the polysomnography, you sleep in our sleep center and we monitor you, every step of the way. While you sleep, our equipment records your brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate and breathing, as well as eye and leg movements. This helps us to determine which sleep disorder you suffer from – we diagnose and treat more than 80 sleep disorders, including the various forms of sleep apnea, as well as insomnia, narcolepsy and more. The sleep study also is helpful for adjusting a patient’s treatment plan if you’ve already been diagnosed with a sleep disorder but haven’t found the right treatment combination.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Coryell Health’s Sleep Center can improve your quality of life, contact us at (254) 248-6296 or sleepcenter@coryellheath.org.