Little sleep increases the risk of heart disease and contracted influenza during the epidemic

Lleida, February 1st, 2017 Sleeping little, less than four hours, but also sleeping too much, more than 10 hours, can affect the quality of life. Several studies relate the amount and quality of sleep to the risk of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes (adult diabetes), depression and also catching a common cold or flu during the epidemic season. These are some of the conclusions of the Sleep Health Report. The impact of sleeping well on the health of people and the community, a document made by the Global Sleep Observatory of Catalonia, a platform promoted by the Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida, the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya and the Fundació Ad Salutem Institute for Healthy Sleep, which will be presented on 1 February at 17 pm at CaixaForum Barcelona, ​​in an event that has the collaboration of the Obra Social 'la Caixa'. Sleeping is a physiological and behavioral phenomenon in which there is a periodic, partial and irreversible decrease in the level of consciousness. It is a universal process throughout the animal kingdom, although the function and the purpose are not completely known. For centuries, sleep has been considered a passive condition, a fact that changed in 1953 with the discovery of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, a phase in which the brain is very active. Although several studies show that sleep is a determinant of maintaining good health, changes in the patterns of everyday life, which lead to a more rapid and stressful rhythm, have led to a loss of sleep quality.