Good reasons to get more Shut-EYE
You'll live longer
The importance of sleep is underrated, says
Dr Ron McCoy, a spokesman for the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Chronic insomniacs are more likely to suffer a heart attack than those who
sleep well, according to research in the journal Circulation. Other studies
have linked lack of sleep to a higher risk of dying from a stroke and
developing breast cancer. "People say they are too busy but getting eight
hours sleep can really save lives," Dr McCoy says. Doctors need to ask,
"How are you sleeping - for how long and what's the quality of your sleep?"
Are
the sheep you're counting every night more exhausted than you are? Could your
internal rooster snooze through a five-alarm fire? Face it you need to check
yourself into
You'll be more mentally healthy
Prof Michael Baigent, a psychiatrist and
board member of BeyondBlue, says poor sleep can be an indicator of mental
illnesses such as bipolar disorder and depression. "One classic pattern
that can indicate depression is early morning wakening," Prof Baigent
says. "This is when a person wakes up one to two hours earlier than they
would like and just can't get back to sleep. One University of Sydney study of
nearly 20,000 people aged 17-24 found those who slept fewer than five hours a
night were three times more likely than normal sleepers to become psychologically
distressed in the next year. Each hour of sleep lost was linked to a 14 percent
higher risk of distress.
poor
sleep can be an indicator of mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and
depression
You'll look better It's called beauty sleep for a reason! Swedish researchers took
photos of people when they were well rested and then again when they were
sleep-deprived. Strangers rated the plenty-of-zzzs shots as more attractive.
You'll be slimmer Women who slept five hours or fewer per night were 32 percent more
likely to experience major weight gain over 16 years, according to a study in
the American Journal of Epidemiology
You'll be sharper
Skimping on rest ages your brain by four to
seven years, say researchers in London. Middle-aged women who slept fewer than
six hours a night tallied scores on memory, reasoning and vocabulary that
resembled those of pensioners.
Skimping
on rest ages your brain by four to seven years
You'll improve your marriage
Research from the University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine found that women who have trouble sleeping have more
negative interactions with their husbands the next day than those who don't.
You'll be nicer to live with
Exhaustion takes a toll on your morals,
according to one study in the Academy of Management Journal, which showed a
lack of sleep increased deviant and unethical behaviour and made people more
rude
