Epidemiology Of Insomnia

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Insomnia is a common problem faced in adults and teenagers in current times, so much so that it is viewed as normal. Often people brag about how little sleep they can get away with, but this is can be very unhealthy in the long term. Insomnia can, over time, bring many health issues that have the ability to impact for life. It is a serious issue that should be dealt with more cautiously than it has been.
An extremely dangerous disease that insomnia and lack of sleep can cause is type two diabetes. Insomnia causes “changes in the effectiveness of body control of appetite” and can lead to “higher blood sugar and increased resistance to insulin” (Myers, Wyatt ). In fact, once type two diabetes is developed, the diabetes makes it even more difficult
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The link between insomnia and depression is very complicated, however, as “depression may cause sleep problems and sleep problems may cause or contribute to depressive disorders” (Depression). Evidence found in a study of the Epidemiology of Insomnia, Depression, and Anxiety is that those with insomnia have a “ten-fold” (Depression) risk of developing depression than those who sleep healthily at night. Lack of sleep causes the body to release more of the hormone “Cortisol,” which is the stress hormone. Constant stress is linked with depression, so therefore insomnia has a clear and direct impact on the development of depression. In addition, NSF’s 2006 Sleep in America Poll found “a strong association between negative mood and sleep problems”(Depression). Of the adolescents that “reported being unhappy, 73% reported not sleeping enough at night,”(Depression) therefore indicating that lack of sleep is a major contributing factor in their unhappiness and …show more content…
In a study performed by James F. Pagel, a group of “64 students” were “split in the middle to form two groups: low GPA and high GPA” (AASM). It was found that “69.7 percent” (AASM) of the students who had low GPAs reported having difficulty falling asleep. It was also found that “53.1 percent of low GPA students experienced leg kicks or twitches at night, while 65.6 percent reported walking at night and having trouble falling back to sleep.” “72 percent” (AASM) of the students also reported difficulty concentrating during the day, a direct hindrance to the student’s ability to excel academically. Dr Pagel concluded from his study that “disordered sleep has significant deleterious effects on a student’s academic performance” (AASM). Another factor linked to the worsened school performance is the increased amount of stress that is linked with a lack of sleep. Sleep is a very vital process to students and has the ability to make or break them, it would be a great idea to ensure you sleep the recommended eight hours a