A majority of people sleep for a specific number of hours in a day. However, others have a different experience, where they have excessive feeling of sleepiness during the day. This is known as hypersomnia. Also known as excessive daytime sleepiness, it can impact a person’s productivity levels and quality of life. Beyond this, it has negative effects on the body. This article gets into these details.
Hypersomnia is caused by a number of issues including failure to buy the best mattress for combination sleepers at mattressgenius.com, shift work, medication, and change of time zones among others. It has various effects on the body including:
- A patient will have excessive fatigue for failure to get sufficient amount of sleep during the night. This makes it daunting to perform daily duties effectively.
- Back and neck pain. Sleeping more than usual will cause backaches, since the affected person is likely to take wrong postures. They may also sleep in other areas other than the bed.
- Sleeping excessively constraints a person from engaging in physical activities and exercises. Accordingly, it is difficult to burn extra calories in the body. Their chances of having weight issues and obesity are higher than for other members of the population.
- Some patients complain of headaches after sleeping for longer than usual. This can be explained by the fact that some neurotransmitters such as serotonin are secreted due to disrupted sleeping patterns.
- Studies show that people who sleep more than usual are likely to suffer from diabetes at some point. The body is unable to regulate sugar properly. Also, excessive weight is a risk factor for the disease.
- Heart disease. Just as it is the case with diabetes, failure to exercise regularly leads to heart diseases. While a direct connection has not been established, studies have shown a positive correlation between excessive sleeping and heart diseases. It is also worth noting that the heart muscles are weakened due to a lack of sleep.
- Stress and depression. People who sleep during the day are likely to be stressed because they are unable to fulfil their obligations. This can lead to depression, which is associated with other issues such as loss of appetite, irritability, and isolation among other things.
- General muscle weakness. A patient suffering from hypersomnia may have weaker muscles in the long run because of failure to exercise. Performing chores that involve lifting of objects can be difficult in this regard.
- Development of sleeping bags around the eyes. A majority of people are worried about their physical appearance. They are likely to be more affected after developing eye bags at an early age due to excessive sleeping.
- Physical injuries. Failure to sleep can cause physical injuries to the affected person. They are unable to concentrate while working or walking due to sleep, leading to accidents.
- Digestive issues. Healthy sleeping patterns help the digestive system to function well. On the other hand, sleeping-related issues such as hypersomnia are likely to affect the system negatively.
- Cognitive difficulties. Chances of remembering important activities during the day are lower when a patient is suffering from hypersomnia. Concentration levels are also lower than usual.
- In extreme cases, death is likely to occur due to excessive sleepiness. It is attributed to conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary heart diseases.
All in all, hypersomnia affects the body in many ways. Patients must observe symptoms such as fatigue, low levels of energy, restlessness and loss of appetite among others. They must then find the underlying problem and solve it amicably.