Sleeping disorders may contribute to mental and physical illness, and can cause serious problems in daily life, a health foundation suggested yesterday.
The Mental Health Foundation said that some 2 million to 3 million Taiwanese over the age of 15 suffer from sleeping disorders and that nearly 70 percent of mental patients have difficulties sleeping well.
According to the foundation, people with insufficient sleep are two times more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and four times more likely to have strokes.
Those with serious sleeping disorders may not be able to stay focused at work, at school or while driving, and thus have a higher likelihood of being involved in accidents.
Li Yu-chou (
Chronic sleeping disorders, including lack of sleep, difficulty falling asleep, breaches of sleep, waking up too early in the morning and oversleeping in the daytime, may lead to a high risk of diabetes and obesity, the foundation said.
Mental Health Foundation chairperson Hu Hai-kuo (
Li Hsin-chien (李信謙), another psychiatrist at the hospital, said sleeping was not a waste of time, as some workaholics and young people may believe.
Instead, he said, the brain repairs itself during sleep through protein re-synthesization, tissue maintenance, cell division and production of growth hormone.
Hu particularly advised women to get sufficient sleep because "sleeping helps cells to renew, including skin cells."
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