Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

“I don’t have time to sleep” and “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” are some of the statements that I’ve heard recently. This is not to say that sleep isn’t considered to be important. For some, it comes down to their priorities. Getting tasks done is often highly prioritized while sleep is sent to the backburner.

Sleep is vital for our physical health. It is involved in the healing and repair of our heart and blood vessels. Sleep deficiency, over time, can be linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.

It can also lead to physical and mental health problems, injuries, less productivity and accidents, which can lead to death. Sleep helps our brain work properly. While we’re sleeping, our brain is forming new pathways to help with learning and remembering information.

There are two sleep patterns or cycles that determine how sleep works and why it’s important. They are rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM. Rapid eye movement is the