Is Poor Sleep Sabotaging Your Health?
We have all woken up and felt as if we hadn’t slept at all. Everything about that day was made more difficult due to our insane tiredness. Simple tasks can be made almost impossible to accomplish.
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), almost six out of ten Americans report having insomnia and sleep problems at least a few nights a week.
Insomnia is defined as “An inability to fall asleep or remain asleep long enough to feel rested, especially when the problem continues over time.” In an effort to combat this, as many as 25 percent of the people in the United States use medications to help them sleep.
Most sleeping pills, especially when taken over long periods of time, can have multiple side effects. The drugs stay in the bloodstream, give a hangover effect the next day and beyond, and can increase the risk of car and work accidents. They also impair memory and performance on the job and at home.
Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk for:
There are many types of poor sleep. The worst is insomia.
Insomnia is a state of hyperarousalwith high cortisol, high glutamate, low gaba, low serotonin, & high norepinephrine, according to Jay Lombard, DO.
There are many damaging effects of too much cortisol. One being the effects on your brain.
Too much Cortisol can be very toxic to many parts of your brain including your cerebellum.
Your cerebellum controls many functions of your body. One major function is to decrease tone in flexor muscles. Your flexor muscles include your biceps, hamstrings, calves, and anterior neck muscles. This includes your muscles that control your airway.
High amounts of physical, chemical, and life style stressors cause your body to produce greater than normal amounts of cortisol. This in turn disrupts your deep sleep patterns.
At Affinity Chiropractic we use Applied Kinesiology to determine flexor tone in your airway muscles. If you do indeed suffer from poor sleep, Dr. Komro can create a plan to support proper sleep. To learn more call Affinity Chiropractic at 612-564-5051 to schedule a consultation.
Affinity Chiropractic is conveniently located at 5100 Thimsen Ave Ste 200, Minnetonka MN 55345
May all of your efforts bring you health, happiness and success.
