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Curejoy Expert James Dudley Explains:
It is an obvious medical fact that over-sleeping is better than under-sleeping in many ways. We may think that our body doesn’t do anything during sleep, but you should know that our internal organs are quite busy preparing for the activities that we’ll be doing the following day, when we are asleep.
Unknowingly, we sometimes deprive our body of the rejuvenation it requires every once in a while by limiting our sleeping hours. It’s okay to sleep less during weekdays and sleep more during weekends. However, it should be noted that this shouldn’t go for a long time but should remain as a temporary affair. The best example for this situation is examination time, when you tend to sleep less and cover it up in the following weekend.
Over-Sleeping
Very much like the temporary under-sleeping phase, oversleeping should also remain temporary. However, if compared, oversleeping is far better than under-sleeping. Oversleeping may make you lethargic, and not to mention unproductive. People should pursue a sleeping time of 8 hours with a range of plus-minus 1 hour, not more or less than that.
Note: The specific duration of the required sleep is only prescribed after a proper health analysis. It depends on individual’s age, overall health, work schedule, and stress and activity levels. But on average, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 7 to 9 hours per night is ideal.
Hypersomnia and Other Cases of Over-Sleeping
In case of patients suffering from hypersomnia, which is a chronic oversleeping habit, no matter how much they sleep, nap during the day or slumbering for many hours at night, they can’t relieve themselves from exhaustion.
On the other hand, in a survey conducted by the Women Hospital in Boston, they found out that women who slept 9 to 11 hours per night were at 38% greater risk of developing coronary heart disease, compared with women who got 8 hours of sleep.
One of the studies also hints at the connection between sleep and a heightened risk of diabetes and obesity, according to another study, people who slept 9 to 10 hours nightly had a 21% greater chance of becoming obese over the course of six years.
Under-sleeping
Under-sleeping is worse than over-sleeping. Firstly, not getting enough sleep can cause death. Since, irregular sleep patterns or schedules do not offer adequate rest to the brain and body, one will have a higher mortality rate than those who get enough sleep.
Also, under-sleep leads to fatigue, which is dangerous in case if you a rider or are constantly driving. It could lead to accident. Sleep deprivation leads to number of major health issues including Diabetes, Stroke, Heart disease, Heart failure, Heart attack, Irregular heartbeat, High blood pressure and more.
Moreover, for student, sleep is essential as it is an important aspect that rejuvenates cognitive processes associated with learning. A lack of sleep brings down alertness and attention span that makes it easier to take in information. Skills that have been learned during the day are converted into memories during the night. Thus, sleep is important.
A proper duration of sleep also helps in making right judgement. Thus, if you under-sleep, you may impair your ability to make an apt judgements.
There are several other problems that can arise if you under-sleep. Some of them include skin damage, gaining weight, lack of sexual drive, forgetfulness, and many more.
Therefore, you can now say that over-sleeping is quite a better choice than depriving yourself of a required duration of a quality sleep.
