Sleep Apnea and Your Brain

Sleep is one of the most essential components of your health. It is a time when your body repairs and restores its many interconnected systems. Lack of sleep for just one night can have a tremendous effect on your mental state, not to mention the toll chronic sleeplessness can take. People who get too little or poor quality sleep tend to experience not only exhaustion, but also a lowered attention span, mood fluctuations, and even anxiety and depression. But the effects of sleep deprivation are not just mental. While you sleep, your body performs restorative tasks that cannot be properly executed while you are awake. Disrupting these processes can lead to a variety of physical symptoms, including weight fluctuation, nausea, and headaches. Sleep deprivation can also have drastic long-term effects, including an increased risk for multiple life-altering diseases. And new research focusing on the problems with memory loss and trouble focusing reported by people with sleep apnea found that left untreated, sleep apnea can even lead to serious injury to your brain. Read more…