The ability to get adequate and good quality sleep every night is important not just to help you get up in the morning well rested, but it is also necessary for your good health. Here are some of the negative consequences you may suffer when you don't get adequate sleep every night. 

Increased Risk of Accidental Injuries

There is overwhelming evidence that lack of sleep increases a person's risk of an accident. Even without scientific evidence, however, you know that it is difficult to remain alert if you are sleepy and tired. You know how dangerous this can be if you have ever caught yourself nodding while behind the wheel. It is not just drivers that should worry about the increased risk of accident; even pedestrians, machinery operators, sportspersons, or and anybody else in an accident-prone area can be affected by lack of sleep.

Health Impairment

Apart from an increased risk of injury, lack of sleep also impairs specific aspects of your health. For example, poor sleep has been linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and obesity, among others. Although some of the reasons inadequate sleep causes all these problems haven't been unearthed, there are some possible theories for some of them. For example, some scientists belie that getting inadequate sleep disrupts underlying biological processes such as glucose metabolism and suppression of inflammation, leading to various ailments.

Memory Impairment

If your job or education requires good memory, and almost all jobs and education do, then you will also be hurting your performance by not getting adequate shut-eye on a regular basis. This is because inadequate sleep has been linked to forgetfulness and poor memory. One reason for this is that your brain processes the information it received during the day, and forms new memories for them. This process will be interrupted if you don't get adequate sleep, leaving you with half-formed memories that easily fade away. It can be disastrous for you if you are learning something new that depends on perfect memory, such as playing the piano.

As you can see, sleep is very important to your life and health. Therefore, if you aren't getting as much sleep as you should get or if you experience sleep disturbances on a regular basis, you should get help as soon as possible. Consult your family doctor to diagnose the cause of the problem so that you can benefit from adequate sleep once again. 

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