Sleep is directly related to your physical and mental life. It affects your immune system, emotional balance, productivity, vitality, weight, creativity, and so on. Undoubtedly, sleep is an essential part of our life.
But it is quite confusing for you to find out the exact sleeping hours. In this article, we will discuss briefly sleeping hours and other related issues of it. We hope, after reading our article you can clearly understand that 5 hours of sleep is enough or not for you.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
The requirement of sleep varies from age to age and person to person. There are many studies already done to find out the exact sleeping hours. There are differences of opinion among the researchers about the exact sleeping hours.
Below we provide you a table from National Sleep Foundation that clears you the average sleeping period for each age group:
| Age | Hours Needed | May Be Appropriate |
| Newborn to 3 Months Old | 14- 17 Hours | 11- 19 Hours |
| 4 to 11 Months Old | 12- 15 Hours | 10- 18 Hours |
| 1 to 2 Years Old | 11- 14 Hours | 9- 16 Hours |
| 3 to 5 Years Old | 10- 13 Hours | 8- 14 Hours |
| 6 to 13 Years Old | 9- 11 Hours | 7- 12 Hours |
| 14 to 17 Years Old | 8- 10 Hours | 7- 11 Hours |
| Young Adults (18 to 25 Years Old) | 7- 9 Hours | 6- 11 Hours |
| Adults (26 to 64 Years Old) | 7- 9 Hours | 6- 10 Hours |
| Older Adults (65+) | 7- 8 Hours | 5-9 Hours |
| Source: National Sleep Foundation |
Health Risks from Lack of Sleep
Physical Symptoms
Lack of proper sleep creates so many physical issues for a person. The skin problem is one of them. Research suggests that a lack of enough sleep can cause your skin age more quickly and can slow down skin recovery. For that reason, you look older than your age. It also causes other physical side effects like:
- Fine Lines.
- Dark Circles.
- Puffy Eyes.
Cognitive Function
Lack of sleep seriously affects your cognitive performance. Many studies and researches have proven it. A 2007 analysis of sleep deprivation studies found that a lack of sleep can affect attention, long-term memory, and decision making. You can face also many other cognitive side effects included:
- Delayed Reaction Times.
- Increased Distractibility.
- Decreased Energy.
- Decreased Coordination.
- Poor Decision Making.
- Increased Errors.
Health Issues
Lack of sleep can highly damage your whole-body immune system. Your body struggles to protect yourself from illness. As a result, you can easily be affected by various diseases. In a global sample of more than ten thousand people, researchers concluded that, in terms of brain function, getting less than 4 hours of sleep was the same as adding 8 years to your age. Below we mention such some serious health issues that can accompany lack of sleep:
- High Blood Pressure.
- Heart Disease.
- Increased Cortisol.
Signs You Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep
If you don’t have proper sleep then you should get many signs to notice it. Lack of sleep affected your everyday life and activities so badly. It creates so many disturbances in your daily life and also reducing your working efficiency. You also become a tetchy person only for lack of enough sleep. American Academy of Sleep Medicine, studies explain that fatigue or excessive daytime sleepiness is a good indicator of sleep deprivation.
Here we mention some signs that you can face for don’t get enough sleep:
- Inability to concentrate.
- Memory problems.
- Less physical strength.
- Decreased ability to fight off infections
- Hallucinations (in extreme cases).
If you’re experiencing any of these signs then ensure your proper sleep and contact with a doctor or healthcare provider as soon as possible.
Health Benefits of Getting Enough Sleep
- Improved Motor Skills: Proper sleep are improving your motor skills too. Research in 2002 shows that those participants have sound sleep in the night their motor speed is increasing 20 percent without any decreasing accuracy.
- Better Athletic Performance: Sufficient sleep has significant impacts on athlete performance. It increases the quality and continuance of his/ her performance. A study is also proven that right.
- More Youthful Looking Skin: Enough sleep can improve your skin conditions. They bring back the glow and shine of your skin. You look smarter and cheerful.
Why Aren’t We Sleeping Enough?
- Personal Issues: Every day we need to deal with many personal issues. Sometimes these issues like relationship stress, caring for a new baby or a sick kid, or money woes, etc. hampered our night’s sleep.
- Shift Work Sleep Disorder: A study of the National Sleep Foundation, find that ten percent of people who work night shifts or rotating shifts are believed to experience shift work disorder
- Health Issues: Regular lack of sleep can cause various health issues. If you aren’t able to get proper sleep continuously it will suffer you a lot. Persistent disrupting of falling asleep could be a symptom of an ongoing sleep disorder or other medical issues.
- Prescription Drugs: Few prescription drugs hampering your regular sleeping period. If you facing this problem then it is wise to quickly consult with your doctor or healthcare provider.
- Behaviorally Induced ISS (Insufficient Sleep Syndrome): Your daily leading lifestyle is also liable for lack of sleep. Some people needlessly awaken the night by wasting time on their phones, television sets, or computers. So, they cannot complete their night’s sleep fully.
How to Get the Sleep that You Need?
National Sleep Foundation recommends to follow some tactics that might help you to fall asleep faster and get sound sleep:
- Trying some gentle yoga poses.
- Limiting your exposure to blue light from your laptop, phone, or tablet.
- Skipping alcohol and caffeine in the evening.
- Eating dinner in the earlier part of the night.
- Trying natural sleep aid.
- Using a calming scent, like chamomile or lavender essential oil, in a diffuser.
- Using a white noise machine, calming music, earplugs, or fan to regulate the sound.
- Upgrading your blanket, bed, pillow, or mattress.
- Regulating your room temperature.
- Embracing the darkness by covering up any lights from electronics and investing in blackout curtains.
- Always try to come into the bed without any stress or tension. Be calm and relaxed during your sleeping time.
Is 5 Hours Enough Sleep?
A study was conducted by Dr. Daniel F. Kripke, who is a professor of psychiatry specializing in sleep research and aging. He didn’t find any statistical health-related reason to sleep longer than six and a half hours per night. This study used data from the Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) from the American Cancer Society that shows sleeping for about five hours per night is slightly safer than sleeping eight.
This study took place in 1982-1988 and collects 1.1 million participants’ data about sleeping patterns and other related issues of it. The study is quite impressive and highly acceptable because it analyzed massive populations’ data for a long period. The major finding of this study is sleeping as little as five hours per night can be better than sleeping eight or more. As an example, if you feel energetic and comforts after sleeping 5 hours a night then it should be enough sleep hours for you. You can continue this sleep routine without any hesitation.
The sum and substance of this article are you need to find out that what is the proper sleeping hours for you. It’s all up to you. The sleeping hour can be 5 hours or more you should determine this according to your body’s acceptance. We suggest you sleep more than five or at least five hours in a daily night. You should keep in mind that overmuch sleep is also harmful to your health.
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