Lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, cancer, heart disease, and low immune response.

Consider this: A recent study in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine showed that if you sleep less than seven hours a night, you have a three times higher risk of getting a cold than if you sleep more than eight hours.

Other research has linked sleep to heart health. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a study showing that people in their 30s and 40s who get less sleep are more likely to develop plaque in the arteries of their hearts early in life. Among those who got at least seven hours of sleep, only 6% had calcifications. The number rose to 11% in those who slept five to seven hours. And for those who got the least amount of sleep--fewer than five hours--it was 27%.

In an article published in Sleep, the team concluded that every lost hour of sleep is associated with a discrete increase in BMI (body mass index, the formula that calculates how overweight you are based on your weight and height).

Scientists still have not determined what lack of sleep has to do with putting on weight. Some cite inflammation reactions. The less you sleep, the stronger the trigger for inflammation. Others contend that those who sleep less have other unhealthy lifestyle habits, which may be partly responsible for their weight gain. Yet other experts focus on the activation of the hormones leptin and ghrelin in response to lack of sleep. These hormones can affect appetite and, as a result, increase the amount of food you consume.   

Here at St. Francis we recognize that difficulty receiving a full night's rest affects many aspects of health. We treat sleep issues so that patients can ultimately improve their quality of life.