Ten Health Problems Caused by Sleep Disorders

If you snore, if you don't get enough sleep, or if you have sleep apnea, you may have one of these health problems as well. Sleep is nourishment for the mind and spirit. If you can find a way to fix your sleep problems, you may be able to fix your health problems as well.

1. Diabetes. Recent studies have shown that diabetes and sleep apnea â€" periodic halting of breathing during sleep â€" are closely related. How close? People who have sleep apnea are nine times as likely as others to have diabetes. Nine times! Moreover, treating sleep apnea usually results in improved sugar control in the body, in many people even leading to an elimination of diabetes symptoms.

2. COPD. Though whether sleep disturbances contribute to the development of COPD or the other way around, most people with COPD also sleep poorly. Treating the sleeping problems seems to help with the symptoms of COPD. (This link has not been examined closely yet, but you'll probably see more research on it in the future.

3. High blood pressure. The Mayo Clinic found that younger people (under 60) who sleep less than 6 hours a night are twice as likely to have chronic high blood pressure. The theory is that because inadequate sleep leads to a 24 hour period of increased blood pressure and heart rate, people who do this on a regular basis stress their symptoms enough to give themselves high blood pressure.

4. Immune system impairment. In a Stanford University study, researchers found that fruit flies prevented from sleeping got sick much more often. This confirmed observations that people who are sleep deprived seem to get sick more often. Researchers think this is because when you disrupt your sleep cycle through lack of sleep, poor sleep, or “swing shift” sleeping, you also disrupt your circadian rhythms, and your immune system depends on this rhythm to know when to turn on and shut off.