Binge Watching and Your Health

Everyone deals with pain from time to time. From joint pain and back aches to migraines and heartburn, pain is something that will appear in your life now and then. But whatever form of pain you find yourself in, it will likely be worse when you miss sleep.

Hate to get sick? Better get your zzzs. Sickness and sleep loss are related. Sleeping less than 6 hours a night has been shown to put you at greater risk of catching a cold and other illnesses. One study observed 164 healthy men and women over the course of a week. Most of the study participants were given nasal drops infected with rhinovirus, the virus that typically causes the common cold. About 30% wound up infected. Their sleep schedules were carefully monitored. It turned out that short sleepers were 4 times more likely to get sick than their well-rested peers. Another large study showed that women who sleep less than 6 hours per night are more likely to contract pneumonia.

Sleeplessness interferes with your memory, and can make concentration difficult. Memory is closely linked with two phases of sleep. REM sleep, which is the phase when dreams occur, is associated with your procedural memory. This is the memory you rely on for your know-how when you are learning a new task. Non-REM sleep is associated with declarative memory. That’s the memory you use when you have to recall an event or a fact. When sleep is disrupted, both types of memory are put at risk.

When you don’t sleep enough, the magical power of caffeine to perk you up and keep you moving diminishes. Regular coffee drinkers may notice that after a few days of inadequate sleep, their morning joe does little to wake them up.

If you’ve had trouble sleeping recently, don’t be surprised if you gain a few extra pounds. Sleep loss has been linked to weight gain. Less than six hours of sleep per night puts you at an increased risk of obesity. To understand why, you need to know how sleeplessness affects your body.

All that light from your TV or smart device can make your eyes sensitive and give you a headache. Dim the brightness on your screen, and try not to watch for more than a couple of hours a day. Keep the center of your monitor about 4-5 inches below eye level. That'll help protect you from neck strain.

Too much screen time may make them sore and dry, and give you blurry vision. Use the 20-20-20 rule: Look to the side every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at something at least 20 feet away. Your screen should be 20-28 inches away from you. You can add a filter to cut any glare, too. And don't forget to blink. It helps keep your eyes moist and healthy.

When you sit for long stretches, your body burns fewer calories and stores the extra as fat. Even if you work out regularly and eat right, it's hard to make up for all that couch time. A binge may be OK as a treat now and then, but it's better to limit screen time and move around.

You powered through 9 hours of your favorite show, and you did it right. You drank plenty of water, snacked on dry popcorn, and walked around the house every hour. But it's 4:30 in the morning. You have to leave for work in 3 hours, and you haven't slept. Lack of sleep can cause car wrecks, bad decisions, depression, and heart disease. You need 7-9 hours a night. So binge if you must, but make sure you get to bed on time.

Making a habit of sitting for that long can raise your chance of having things like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It may change the way your body uses sugar and fat. It can also raise your odds of getting a blood clot in your leg that could go to your lungs and block blood flow. It's called a pulmonary embolism, and it's serious. Drink plenty of water, wear loose clothes, and take a walk about every hour to help avoid it.