People Feel Years Older After Two Nights Of Bad Sleep
Bad sleep? Not getting enough sleep won’t just leave you yawning, it can make you feel older than you really are, according to The Guardian and new research. It only takes two nights of poor sleep to feel years older, a new two-part studyfrom Sweden finds.
The significance of sleep in our lives cannot be overstated, as it stands as a cornerstone of good health and well-being. Through the lens of modern science and medicine, it’s become increasingly clear that sleep plays a pivotal role in both physical and mental health. It is during sleep that the body undergoes processes of repair and rejuvenation, affecting virtually every tissue and system within the human body. This includes the heart and blood vessels, the immune system, and even the brain’s ability to process and retain information. Adequate sleep is essential for healing and repair, helping to ward off diseases, and maintaining a healthy balance of the hormones that govern hunger and appetite, which in turn can help to control weight gain.
In the first part of the study, 429 people between the ages of 18 and 70 answered questions about how old they felt and how many nights they’d slept badly in the past month.
- For each day of poor sleep, participants felt an average of three months older, while those who had an entire month of sleeping well felt nearly six years younger, on average, than their true age.
- In part two of the study, researchers found the 186 volunteers ages 18 to 46 felt an average of 4.44 years older after two nights in a row of sleeping only four hours, but some felt decades older.
- When they were able to sleep for nine hours a night for two nights in a row, participants felt three months younger than their real age, on average.
- Study authors found some differences in people’s responses to sleep loss depending on whether they’re a morning person or a night owl. Night owls typically felt older than their age even after getting plenty of sleep, while early birds were hit harder and felt older from a lack of sleep.
“Sleep has a major impact on how old you feel and it’s not only your long-term sleep patterns,” explains study author Leonie Balter. “Age is more than just the perception. If you want to feel young, the most important thing is to protect your sleep.”
Most Common Summer Illnesses and How to Avoid Them
1. Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease is a big one in the summer. Lyme disease is transmitted through tick bites, which are often living in areas with tall grass or the woods. Some common symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache and a bullseye rash. To help avoid getting tick bites, try to avoid areas with tall grass and wooded areas; wear long sleeves and pants outside; use insect repellent; and look for ticks on your skin and remove them if you find them.
Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is super prevalent in the summer. Just think about it. If you go to a picnic, chances are, that potato salad is going to be left out in the sun a long time. So, beware what you eat at outdoor events. Also, be clean with how you handle food, cook food thoroughly, wash your hands when handling food and don’t have perishable foods unrefrigerated for too long.
Dehydration
Dehydration can really be serous. It sounds like no big deal, but severe dehydration can actually lead to death. Don’t freak out too much, though. Severe dehydration usually happens if you are vomiting or have diarrhea for an extended time. In the summer months, however, being outside in the hot sun for too long and not drinking enough can lead to dehydration. Drink plenty of water. If you’re working out, sports drinks are a good choice, too.
Colds
You don’t just get a cold when it’s cold out. “Some viruses and other bacteria thrive under the extreme heat of the sun, thus increasing your risk of infection,” notes unilab.com.ph. To avoid spreading it, “Always cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze and dispose your tissues in the right receptacle.”
Flu
The flu often ticks up in the winter, but it’s around in the summer, too. Often times, if people are traveling and in close areas, the flu virus can spread. To avoid it, the CDC suggests to get vaccinated, practice good hand hygiene and avoid close contact with sick people.
Getty Images / Paul-Bradbury
Enterovirus
Enterovirus is commonly called the “summer flu.” It can cause fever, coughing, runny nose and nausea. It can also cause a rash, like with hand-foot-and-mouth disease. To prevent it, as always, good hygiene is key.
Getty Images / Dr_Microbe
More tips to avoid getting sick
“Frequent hand washing and avoiding exposure to people who are sick with fever can help prevent the spread of infection,” Dr. Michael Pichichero, a pediatrician and infectious disease researcher at the Rochester General Hospital Research Institute in New York, tells Newsinhealth.nih.gov. Dr. Pichichero adds that the best way to avoid getting sick is to block viral transmission. You can get sick by coming into direct contact with an infected person’s respiratory secretions, such as saliva or mucus, so the frequent hand washing really helps. Also, protect yourself from the sun and beware of picnics where food that’s left out in the sun can go bad.
