Too yawning it can be a sign of health problem, experts say

Do you get a lot of yawning? Need that third or fourth cup of coffee to be able to spend the afternoon at work? Such signs of drowsiness can be alerted to a serious sleep deficit that can harm long -term health, according to a new position of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

“Drowsiness is a serious concern of health with long -range consequences,” says AASM President Eric Olson, a pulmonologist and sleeping medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

“Sleeping accidents to workplace errors and long -term health risks, the effects of excessive drowsiness during the day impact individuals and society every day,” says Olson in a statement on positioning, which is supported by 25 different medical organizations, including the American Academy of Neurology, the National Security Council and the American Academy of Family Doctors.

Not having a quality rest night at least seven to eight hours has been associated with the development or aggravation of diabetes, depression, heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure, obesity and stroke, The experts say.

“With a third of US adults reporting that they experience excessive drowsiness, the importance of identifying interventions that recognize, evaluate and treat this cannot be underestimated,” adds Olson.

Often people discard signs of drowsiness, such as nap during a work meeting, as an insignificant problem, rather than a sign of a possible dangerous sleep deficit, experts say.

“Naping in boring meetings is an indication of insufficient sleep. Someone who is completely rested will not fall asleep in meetings, no matter how boring the meeting is,” says sleep expert Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of Neurology and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

“Excessive drowsiness during the day can impair performance and be an indicator of underlying sleep disorders or other problems,” says Knutson by email. “If someone is experiencing excessive drowsiness during the day regularly, they should discuss this with their doctor.”

A hidden danger

The body does strange things when it is continually sleepy, including overcoming those yawning and sending signs that you are, in fact, dealing with lack of sleep. However, these signs could not be further from the truth, according to Indira Gurubhagavatula, professor of sleep medicine at the Medical Center of Veterans Administration at Penn Medicine, Philadelphia.

“The unfortunate thing is that the data show that with partial deprivation of chronic sleep, the ability to perceive our own level of commitment is no longer accurate – we think we are well when we really are not,” says Gurubhagavatula.

“When we do real tests to measure how well your brain is working – reaction time, ability to remember, memory tests, coordination – we find that people are really making many mistakes,” he adds. “And it’s scary because they still have this level inappropriately highly reliable they are fine.”

With continuous drowsiness, the brain can take short naps, or what experts call microSonos, according to Gurubhagavatula.

“Your brain is really coming into brief micro -solo of two, three, ten seconds and then coming back, and you may not even realize that this is happening,” he says. “It can be very dangerous if you are driving or doing something that involves security. So if you feel you can fall asleep, pay attention to it, as it is an indication that it is not safe to drive.”

About 100,000 car accidents per year are linked to drowsiness, According to Statistics.

Drowsiness tests

How to know if your drowsiness is entering a danger zone? You can measure it on multiple scales, including Epworth’s drowsiness scale, according to Gurubhagavatula.

The questions on the test include how likely it is that you fall asleep when sitting quietly after lunch without alcohol; lie in the afternoon; sit inactive in a public place; sit and read; sit down and talk to someone; Walk as a passenger in a car for one hour; sit in traffic for a few minutes while driving; and watch television.

“We ask patients to classify from zero to three how likely it is to fall asleep during these eight sedentary situations,” he says. “The maximum score is 24, which indicates that you are very, very sleepy. We usually consider scores above 10 as clinically significant and deserve intervention.”

As sleep deprivation progresses, dangerous symptoms of drowsiness may increase, says Gurubhagavatula.

“You have fallen eyelids, your body is bending, you are having difficulty staying erect, and some people even notice vertigo, the environment spinning, tremendous hands with severe deprivation,” he says. “You can also act recklessly and impulsively, as if it doesn’t care. This is another symptom.”

Additional causes of drowsiness

Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and circadian rhythm disorders, as well as chronic pain conditions and medications can also contribute to drowsiness, which will be evaluated by a sleep expert.

“You can also ask your pharmacist about your prescriptions, and you should also consider any medicines sold without recipes,” says Gurubhagavatula.

Certain lifestyle behaviors can also contribute to chronic drowsiness, experts say.

“Things like excessive caffeine, alcohol use before bed, we can use marijuana, the amount of exercise you are doing and inadequate sleep hygiene practices, such as sleeping in a light, cold, hot or noisy room, will definitely affect how your sleep will be organized and how restorative it will be,” says Gurubhagavatula.

Many people resort to alcohol or marijuana in the false belief that this can improve sleep. Although alcohol seems to make it easier to fall asleep, the body will wake up in the middle of the night once alcohol is metabolized, experts say.

“I have patients who are very surprised at how much sleep improves when they eliminate that cup of drink they take with dinner,” says Gurubhagavatula.

“As for marijuana, we know that it really has unwanted side effects on sleep. The efficiency of your sleep decreases, and how tired you feel the next day increases, so sleep quality really starts to fall.”

Irregular sleep may increase risk of stroke and heart attack

This content was originally published in too yawning may be a sign of health problem, experts say on CNN Brazil.

Source: CNN Brasil