The Importance of Sleep

On the way home from a trip to Rhode Island, my wife and I listened to an amazing TED talk by Russell Foster titled "Why do we sleep."

I am aware of the link between sleep deprivation and obesity. I am aware of the link between sleep in teenagers testing scores and employees productivity and creativity. 

I spend a lot of time talking to my patients about sleep but in the past, the conversation mostly focuses mostly focuses on their risk of sleep apnea, If they do no have sleep apnea, I typically have let sleep issues fall by the way side. 

Now, it is clear to me that sleep needs to be discussed along with not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, heart healthy eating, low consumption of alcohol and lots of exercise as the keys towards leading a healthy and long life. Specifically, for all those patients that are trying to lose weight, ensuring that they get at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night will help combat the hormonal disregulation for which sleep deprivation leads to  increased appetite (specifically for carbs), increased adipose (fat) deposition around the waist, increased inflammation, increased irritability and leads to lack of energy zapping the oomph for physical activity.