Everyone knows that sleep problems can cause poor health. We are talking not only about nervous exhaustion, but also about problems with physical characteristics. For example, with bones.
How does sleep affect bone health?
Sleep duration directly affects bone health. As scientists from the University of Colorado have found, getting enough sleep can prevent osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis occurs for various reasons, but the main ones are hormonal changes, aging and various lifestyle factors. It is known that at age 20 a person reaches peak bone density. Then the density remains stable for several decades, but when a woman reaches menopause, for example, bone mass density decreases. Men also experience changes that are not for the better as they age.
With age, a person’s circadian rhythms change. That is, his sleep and wakefulness patterns. At the same time, as doctors assure, the genes that control our “internal clock” are found in all bone cells.
“This rhythmicity is likely important for normal bone metabolism and suggests that disturbances in sleep and circadian rhythms may directly influence bone health,” explain the American scientists.
Scientists conducted an experiment in which they found that bone loss, osteoporosis and an increased risk of fractures occur with sleep disorders, namely when a person sleeps 5 or less hours a day.
Insomnia is also known to increase the risk of heart attacks.
There is also fatal insomnia, which is based on a hereditary mutation in the gene for a certain protein. The mutated gene produces misfolded proteins called prions that accumulate in the thalamus, an area of the brain that regulates. This condition is dangerous not only for health, but also for life.
It all starts with insomnia, which gets worse over time. Then there is loss of appetite, weight, changes in body temperature and impaired cognitive function, which only progress over time and can lead to dementia.
Death usually occurs within 12-18 months after the first symptoms appear.
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