4 Sleep Deprivation Health Issues Home Care Can Address

Sleep Deprivation Health Issues: Home Care Glencoe IL

Sleep Deprivation Health Issues: Home Care Glencoe IL

Most people realize that a good night’s sleep is important for functioning well the following day. Sleep provides our body the chance to relax, regroup, and recoup. Although the amount of sleep one gets is important, it’s also important that it’s good sleep. Getting up repeatedly at night or waking up more tired than when they went to sleep is unhealthy and could lead to other health complications.

That’s why it’s important to help make sure your loved one gets restful sleep each night. Having a home care provider to help keep your senior on a schedule is also very beneficial. It can begin with having a bedtime routine that alerts her body that sleeping will be coming soon. It can also involve having a sleeping area that is quiet, cool, and free from distractions.

If these steps aren’t taken for a good night’s sleep, the lack of sleep is linked to some serious chronic health conditions, including these four.

Cardiovascular Disease

If your loved one has sleep apnea (where she stops breathing for short periods while she sleeps), this condition has been linked to stroke, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. It also seems to go hand-in-hand with the hardening of the arteries.

If your loved one sleeps alone, she might not even know she has sleep apnea because even though it interrupts her sleep, she may not remember it. If your loved one complains to you or her home care providers about being tired after “sleeping” for 8 hours, you might want to bring her to a sleep expert for evaluation.

Diabetes

While diabetes may be able to be helped with diet and exercise (both of which, your home care provider can assist with), it’s also improved with good sleep. Optimizing sleep duration and quality are important aspects of improving blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes.

This is where creating a regular sleep routine can help your loved one get adequate rest each night and keep her diabetes under control.

Depression

Being constantly exhausted combines with depression in a one-two knockout punch that’s hard to beat. While many people sleep too much when they’re depressed, what they often also find is that their sleep schedule gets thrown off and they sleep during the day and stay up all night with racing thoughts or worries about the coming day.

It’s a vicious cycle that needs careful monitoring from doctors as well as caregivers like yourself and your home care team. Helping your loved one get up each morning even when she emotionally doesn’t feel like it, will help her sleep better at night. It is just one step toward better mental health, but it’s a big one.

Obesity

Not getting enough long periods of sleep can lead to obesity or cause a person to gain excessive weight. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation will increase hunger and appetite by altering metabolic and endocrine function. It also makes a person more tired during the day, causing them to partake in less activity that may burn calories and build muscle.

If your loved one isn’t sleeping well, getting her some help will improve her overall health in the long term.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Home Care in Glencoe, IL, call the caring staff at LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services. Call (888) 606-4199 LifeCare serves all of the Chicago Metro Area.

LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services