A person's weight is affected by hormone production. Two hormones in particular are responsible for stimulating and controlling appetite. Ghrelin is the hormone responsible for stimulating your appetite while leptin tells your brain that your body is full and does not need any more food.
When you don't sleep enough your ghrelin and leptin hormones are out of balance. They don't function properly. Lack of sleep causes the levels of the ghrelin hormone to increase in your system. This causes you to feel hungry to a much greater extent.
Not only do you feel hungrier when you do not get enough sleep, it takes more to make you feel satiated because the amount of leptin in your system decreases. Also, research has shown that the more sleep deprived you are, the worse things are as far as weight gain is concerned.
Don't think that your hormones have a great effect on the size of your pants? Think about this: there is a link between obesity and lack of sleep. This link is not a nice one. In fact, the link has been found to pair together obesity and lack of sleep in Americans. This link was found by Standford University and the University of Wisconsin.
One would surmise that when you are awake you burn more calories. While it is true that an increased level of physical activity will burn more calories, staying up longer won't necessarily burn more calories. The reason is that when you stay up longer you tend to grab the nearest bag of pretzels, chips, and cookies to satisfy your undending hungry. More calories in means more pounds on your waistline. So you are better off sleeping.
Plus, it is also true that we burn 60-65% of all calories while our bodies are at rest. That means that only 35% or so of all the calories we burn are the result of physical activity. While there are certainly exceptions to this, the fact remains that being awake does not translate into rapid calorie burning.
There is a disastrous majority of overweight Americans today. Obliviously, current diet and exercise programs are not being followed currently. An easy way to help curb a burgeoning waistline is to focus on your sleep time. Try sleeping more to affect your ghrelina and leptin hormones positively. Get comfortable and get some sleep for a trimmer you!
It is very possible that the reason why so many of us fail with our New Year's Resolutions to lose weight is because we continue to not get enough sleep night after night. If you are having trouble seeing results from your diet, ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep and find a way to get more. You will not only feel more refreshed, you may also feel slimmer in the process!
Dangers of Sleep Apnea
Recognizing sleep apnea symptoms is the first step to treating this deadly condition. Aside from exhausting the body and retarding your functions, sleep apnea could lead to more serious conditions such as stroke, heart disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease to name just a few.
There are three types of sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is when the brain fails to signal breathing. Obstructive sleep apnea is when the muscles in the air passage collapses or becomes blocked by tissues that prevent air from getting through. The third type is a mix of the two major apnea types. Although they may have their differences, they may share a similar sleep apnea symptom or two.
Symptoms
Snoring is one common symptom of sleep apnea. This sleep apnea symptom may begin immediately after falling asleep and can grow louder as sleep progresses. It has since been discovered though that sleep apnea may still occur even without this common sleep apnea symptom. It is also possible that one may be a loud snorer without necessarily having an apnea condition.
The cessation of breathing is therefore, one of the determining factor of sleep apnea symptom. Aside from this obvious sleep apnea symptom, an individual could also gasp and choke while asleep and may eventually wake up dazed and confused. Daytime sleepiness is an insomnia symptom that may also point to a sleep apnea condition.
Accompanying Conditions
Another way to recognize symptoms of the condition is to look at the conditions caused by apnea itself. A person suffering from this condition could end up being depressed because apnea causes either light sleep or wakefulness that in turn causes tiredness and irritability.
Importance of an Observer
People with sleep apnea will have a hard time recognizing the condition themselves. After all, a sleeping person cannot know what goes on during sleep. The responsibility of first noticing an apnea condition therefore falls on the shoulders of housemates or bed mates. Once a symptom like cessation of breathing becomes obvious a person who is believed to have apnea should be brought to a specialist for proper diagnosis. Housemates should also take note of personality changes brought about by disturbed sleep.
Treatment
Sleep apnea can be treated by surgery with its known 50% chance of success. It may help though for people who have the condition clearly because of enlarged tissues or tonsils. Surgery is generally a last resort treatment for people with apnea. Other medical procedures and treatments are first attempted before surgery is considered. What is important is to seek for expert advice instead of attempting to solve the condition on your own.
Both Peter Kilpton & Patricia Hammond are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Peter Kilpton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sleep Disorders, Sleep Disorder. Peter Kilpton is the chief writer for, and editor of , it's one of the webs most up to date Sleep sites, their free newsletter is well worth signing up for too. Peter Kilpton's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.
Patricia Hammond has sinced written about articles on various topics from Anger Control, Hair Care and Cellulite. How can a ruin your life? Learn more about the. Patricia Hammond's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.