Avoid Doctor Waiting Rooms and Hospitals By Improving Sleep

Although all doctors have put in strict measures at their practices to avoid patients with suspected COVID-19 from sitting around in waiting rooms it is still a good idea to limit your visits to medical rooms or hospitals unless absolutely necessary. Social distancing is much harder to do in a medical environment too, so avoiding hospitals is important unless absolutely necessary. Poor sleep can contribute to you having to visit a doctor more regularly.

A significant number of people suffer from sleep disruption where they cannot get enough hours of good quality sleep – either involuntary sleep deprivation such as young children waking up during the night, insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea. Research on all of these situations provides data that indicates that people with poor sleep are more likely to visit doctors more often due to a number of factors. If you have a sleep disorder you are more likely to have accidents because of the poor concentration and the memory loss associated with poor sleep. These accidents can happen at home, at work and while traveling. Patients with insomnia have an motor-vehicle accident rate 2.5 times the normal rate while for those with obstructive sleep apnea it is 8 times the normal rate. More accidents mean more visits to doctors and hospitals.

Then there is the negative impact that all sleep disruptions have on existing medical conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. The presence of obstructive sleep apnea, for example, can make managing these other disorders much more difficult. Also, poor sleep reduces your immune function making you more likely to catch viral illnesses such as COVID-19, but also the usual cold and flu viruses that emerge in winter. If you are experiencing unexplained sleep disturbances, are overweight coupled with tiredness and snoring, get in touch with us for an effective, safe and affordable sleep apnea home test.