People 'must do something about sleep loss'

People need to do more to combat sleep loss, as it will eventually lead to long-term health problems down the road, one expert has said.

Jessica Alexander, spokesperson for the Sleep Council, the generic body that aims to raise awareness of the importance of a good night's sleep to health and wellbeing, said that studies have shown that people are still neglecting sleep.

A recent study by QVC suggested that people from different areas of the UK are getting varying amounts of sleep, with those in Aberdeen getting far below the recommended amount, and Ms Alexander said it is difficult to explain why sleep levels vary so widely across the country.

"They're fairly slight to be honest but overall there is still an indication that people are short changing their sleep around the country and judging by the number of people who are consciously suffering for it, it's surprising they don't do something about it," she explained.

Ms Alexander added that if people are "short changing" on sleep it could have wider implications on their overall wellbeing.

She pointed out that it has been linked to putting on weight because the hormones that control appetite are affected by how much people sleep, while it has also been linked to diabetes, the ability to memorise and to process the facts that people absorb, as well as depression.

"All sorts of things that we might suffer from that we wouldn't necessarily connect to sleep are affected by it. Getting a good night's sleep is probably one of the great sources of getting a healthy lifestyle," she explained.

Posted by James McCann

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