Does How You Sleep Give You Clues to Your Health?

Like food, water, and air, we need sleep to survive. The quality of a person’s sleep can significantly impact their brain, musculoskeletal system, and even their heart. Restfulness or fitfulness during sleeping hours can be key indicators of one’s health. 

The quality of sleep, as well as sleep patterns, may provide medical professionals with significant clues about a person’s physical, mental, and brain health, as well as clues about diseases the person may be experiencing. Let’s break down how your sleep could be telling you something about your overall health. 

Clues to Physical Health Issues

Sleep researchers have long recognized that sleep is crucial for physical repair and growth, as well as for supporting immune function and facilitating recovery from injuries or illnesses. It helps memories consolidate and the body rejuvenate itself. Without sleep, the body’s core functions are vulnerable to disease or deterioration. 

When your sleep quality suddenly changes, it may be a sign of a change in your overall health. As long as other external conditions like a new stressful job or pregnancy aren’t coming into play, you should be cautious when any sudden changes in your sleep habits arise. Sudden insomnia, restlessness, or even excessive fatigue can be a sign of many health issues like hormonal imbalances, anemia, kidney disease, and much more.

Heart Conditions

Poor sleep can be a symptom or be exacerbated by chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. If falling asleep is difficult because your heart rate isn’t slowing down as it should, check with your doctor. A fast resting heart rate, or tachycardia, may indicate the need for medication to help manage conditions like inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) or high blood pressure. Heart palpitations – often felt as a skipped heartbeat or a “flip-flop” sensation in the chest – are usually benign and simply annoying, but in rare cases, they can indicate more serious issues.

Musculoskeletal Pain

Restless sleep can be an indicator of musculoskeletal issues, such as joint problems, back or neck issues, or undiagnosed arthritis. Sleeping on a mattress that does not provide proper support can aggravate joint issues and put unnecessary pressure on areas such as the hips, knees, neck, or spine. 

Digestive Issues 

Individuals with acid reflux may have sleep issues if they enjoy lying on their back during their sleeping hours. Changing sleep positions or swapping your traditional base for one of Gardner Mattresses’ Adjustable Bases could help reduce acid reflux symptoms.

Clues to Mental Health Issues

Poor sleep can put individuals at risk of increased stress, depression, anxiety and eating disorders. We all know how we feel after a poor night’s sleep. Imagine that compounded by issues such as insomnia, worry or tossing and turning.

Mental health can be severely impacted if you do not get enough restorative sleep. Contact your doctor about what your insomnia could be indicating and how it is affecting your mental health. 

Clues to Brain Health Issues

After a restful night’s sleep, we often feel better and think more clearly. That’s because it’s during sleep, REM sleep in particular, that the brain actively cleans itself of metabolic waste products through the glymphatic system. Sleep helps consolidate memories, especially during the deep, slow-wave sleep stages. A lack of sleep can hinder memory recall and impact learning. 

If you have started to notice an inability to focus, pay attention for long periods, or learn something new, there may be a sleep problem at the heart of it. Discuss these symptoms with your doctor, as a lack of sleep can impair cognitive processes. 

Clues to Sleep Disorders 

Your quality of sleep can be a massive clue to potential sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, sleepwalking, night terrors, insomnia, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome. If you are waking up feeling exhausted every morning and there is no outward reason why, your lack of restful sleep may be your body’s way of telling you that you have a sleep disorder. 

If your partner complains about your snoring, take notice. Snoring can be a tell-tale sign of heart disease or sleep apnea. Heart disease and sleep apnea are both conditions that you shouldn’t take lightly, but can be managed with adequate medical care. It’s best to consult your doctor about your snoring, especially if it’s severe, as this can be a common symptom of sleep apnea.

Even after a full night’s rest, if you continue to experience daytime drowsiness, you may not be getting the restful sleep that you think you are. You may be sleepwalking, suffer from narcolepsy or have cycles of restless leg syndrome, where the muscles in your legs make it difficult to stay still. 

Feeling exhausted occasionally is normal, especially when work and family demands are ongoing. However, if you can sleep anywhere and at any time, even if you don’t want to, it’s essential to consult with your physician.

Sometimes, You Just Need a Better Mattress

If you’re experiencing poor sleep that isn’t related to these health issues, you may simply need a more comfortable mattress. The right mattress will support your body and prevent back and neck pain, allowing you to wake up feeling refreshed. Browse our high-quality, American-made, and organic mattresses at Gardner Mattress and experience blissful sleep. Call today at 1-800-564-2736.