The Importance of Sleep on Clearing the Brain
Sleep apnea affects the way you breathe while you are sleeping. In untreated sleep apnea, breathing is briefly interrupted during sleep. The pauses in breathing last between 10 to 20 seconds and can occur up to hundreds of times in a night, affecting your natural sleep rhythm. As a result, you spend more time in light sleep and less time in the deep, restorative sleep you need to enhance your energy, productivity, and concentration for the next day.
Sleep and The Brain
Chronic sleep deprivation is a public health epidemic and has led scientists to study why you sleep and how it affects the brain. During waking hours all the organs in your body use energy and, in the process, release waste material. The brain, being a tremendous consumer of energy, uses its glial cells as a pump for when the body sleeps. Glial cells, or cells of the nervous system, sweep out the toxic waste that the brain does not need. When you do not receive enough sleep, the glial cells are not efficient at removing the brain’s waste. This may lead to certain degenerative brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Schedule A Consultation
With proven research on how much the body, especially the brain, needs a solid and consistent amount of sleep, it is highly advised to receive seven to eight hours of sleep each night. If you feel that your sleep is being jeopardized, schedule a consultation with our office to determine if you are a patient at risk for sleep apnea. It is never too late to change your detrimental sleeping habits and patterns.
