Why can't you sleep for a long time during the day? What does sleeping too much lead to? You will have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease

The most common problems that sedentary behavior can give us are few. active image life is problems with the spine. Basically, the emphasis is on problems with posture, pain in the shoulders, neck, back and headaches. But the “bonuses” don’t end there.

This also includes problems with the lungs, heart and stomach. Want to know what happens to your body when you spend too much time at work or on your favorite couch watching TV?

Head

Blood clots that form as a result of sitting for long periods of time can travel through the circulatory system and reach the brain, causing a stroke.

This also includes headaches caused by poor blood flow and problems with the neck and spine. Due to headaches, concentration deteriorates and vision problems may occur.

The fluid that is retained in the legs during a day of sedentary work moves into the neck when you take a horizontal position, that is, you go to bed. And can cause obstructive sleep apnea - sudden stop breathing.

Previously, problems with sleep apnea were associated with obesity, but according to medical data, about 60% of people suffering from this syndrome are not overweight. According to latest study conducted by Canadian scientists, it turned out that in people who spend almost their entire working day sitting, fluid accumulates in the legs, which then moves to the neck when the person assumes a horizontal position (that is, sleeps). This fluid is what causes breathing problems at night.

Heart

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to cardiovascular disease. In people who suffer from heart failure and obstructive sleep apnea, at night fluid accumulates in the lungs and neck.

Lungs

In people suffering from heart failure and other heart problems, fluid can accumulate in the lungs, leading to breathing problems. Here you can add pulmonary embolism. The problem is even more unpleasant than its name.

Stomach

sedentary and sedentary lifestyle life can lead to obesity and problems with the gastrointestinal tract (including colon cancer). Enzymes that are responsible for muscle function blood vessels, which, in turn, are responsible for burning fat, are turned off. And the metabolic regulation by which the body burns its fuel (especially glucose and lipids) becomes disrupted.

As a result, your butt takes the shape and size of your desk chair.

Here you can add constipation, hemorrhoids and “other joys of life.”

Legs

As mentioned above, during prolonged sitting, fluid accumulates in the legs, which leads to swelling. Another problem is varicose veins veins

Is it possible to sleep or lie down after eating?

Many of us are accustomed to taking a horizontal position after eating and lying down on the sofa in order to “get fat,” so to speak. This is wrong, and according to gastroenterologists and fitness trainers, it leads to obesity and some stomach problems.

Is it possible to lie down or sleep immediately after eating or is it better to walk and move?

Many lovers healthy image life and those who are worried about their figure tend to walk or jog after eating. This is also wrong, since excessive physical activity causes blood to flow from the stomach to the extremities.

Thus, a certain blood deficiency occurs in the stomach area, which causes food to stagnate in it. It begins to ferment, so some problems with the gastrointestinal tract may occur.

If you take a horizontal position immediately after eating, some gastric juice from the stomach will flow into the esophagus. Because of this, you will feel heaviness and heartburn.

Thus, you should not lie down, run, or walk after eating. The most the best option is to sit for 15-20 minutes. After this, you can perform various physical exercises and more serious physical exercise. In this case, part of the food will settle in the stomach and be well absorbed. A sufficient amount of gastric juice will be released to process food.

Lying down or sleeping after eating during the day and at night: harmful or beneficial?

Going to bed at lunchtime or in the evening after eating is unacceptable. This promotes the flow of gastric juice into the esophagus. Reducing the amount of gastric juice helps slow down metabolism. Thus, you risk getting excess fat in the waist and hips.

Rules of conduct after eating:

After sleep you can watch unpleasant feeling in the area of the stomach and esophagus. This is due to the fact that food taken immediately before bed is not digested. It stagnates in the stomach, and the number of pathogenic microorganisms increases.
If you come home late from work and feel hungry, you shouldn’t overeat and take a large number of food before bed. The best option would be a light dinner. To do this, you can use kefir and low-fat dairy products. It is also acceptable to use fruit.

How long after eating can you lie down and go to bed, day and night?

You should not rest or sleep immediately after eating.

After a light dinner, you can go to bed no earlier than an hour later. If you have eaten fairly heavily, then you can go to rest no earlier than after 3 hours.
Precisely because in evening time and during sleep, metabolism slows down, and food is digested quite slowly, nutritionists have established the norm. It is not recommended to eat after 18:00.
If you are not one of the people who are worried about their figure, then eating after 18:00 is allowed. But it must be food rich in protein or dietary fiber. You can eat fruits, vegetables, not so much fatty foods. Sausages and fried foods are not allowed.
If you eat too much before going to bed and feel full or even overeated, this will contribute to the accumulation of fatty tissue. Thus, you risk gaining a few extra pounds and getting sick. gastrointestinal tract.

Which side is better to lie on and sleep after eating?

As noted earlier, you should not sleep after eating. But if you have eaten and experience heartburn, in this case it is better to lie on your left side. The fact is that this promotes better passage of food through the walls of the stomach and esophagus.

Which side to sleep on:

If you have problems with high pressure or diabetes, it is best for you to sleep on your back. This position is also suitable if you suffer from any diseases of the spine.
After eating, you should not sleep on your right side or stomach. This will put pressure on the walls of the stomach and esophagus, as well as slow down metabolism.
Accordingly, if you do not have the opportunity to sit, walk, or move a little after eating, then it is best to lie on your left side. Never lie down on your stomach or right side.

As you can see, sleeping after eating is not the most best idea. This helps slow down metabolism and leakage small quantity gastric juice from the stomach into the esophagus. In turn, this contributes to the development of pathology of the digestive tract.

Can you tell exactly how much time you sit during the day? If you don’t think about this issue, the problem does not seem global. But as soon as a timer appears next to you, recording the time you spend on the chair, the result will be quite shocking. Many people work outside of industry, and most of us sit in the office for 8 hours. If we add to this driving a car and lounging on the couch in the evenings, eating or checking children’s homework, it turns out that we are without active movement for the vast majority of hours a day. Even if after work you introduce an hour-long workout into your usual routine, this will not improve the situation. Most of the day modern man remains inactive.

Intense training does not solve the problem

Movement is important and good for our health. But even an intense workout until you break a sweat cannot balance the situation. The danger from sitting on a chair for many hours is so great that in most cases it causes chronic problems with health. One of the authoritative medical publications told the world community about this in January 2015. Unfortunately, a sedentary lifestyle has become the norm in our culture. We are not afraid of the statistics provided World organization health care: none physical activity Among the adult population, it is the fourth most important risk factor leading to premature mortality.

What happens to the human body when there is insufficient activity?

The report provided notes that sedentary image life causes changes in the human body. Scientists also managed to prove that training twice a week cannot change the situation. Many of us are used to sitting for most of the day. But for some reason we do not connect the problem with the sharply increased statistics cardiovascular diseases with physical inactivity. In addition to heart disease, inactive citizens risk developing density depletion bone tissue, and even cellular mutations that provoke cancerous tumors. It has been proven that if a person sits on a chair for 8 to 12 hours daily, he increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 90 percent. Fortunately, these risks can be compensated for by getting up from your chair. at least each hour. Just a two-minute warm-up will help get your blood circulation back on track.

Modern people sit too much

This trend is common to all developed countries. For example, in the United States, the average adult sits 60 percent of their waking hours. If we convert these statistics into hours, the average is more than 6 hours. Recently, the Mayo Clinic reported a study in which they observed people sitting in front of a television or computer. As a result, it turned out that people who spend their leisure time watching movies or chatting in social networks four hours or more have a chance of premature death(regardless of the reason) 50 percent more than those who sit in front of a screen for less than two hours a day. Also during the experiment it turned out that volunteers from less active group(those who watch TV all evening long) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by more than two times. Note that these results are valid regardless of the number of participants.

Transforming your workspace can save the day

If you sit at your workplace without getting up throughout the working day, and after work you go for a run, you will have the same health risks as your colleague who lies on the couch after work. That's why in many progressive companies, management has equipped standing areas for their employees. That is why in companies that care about the health of their employees, rest rooms are equipped with exercise equipment. That's why many meetings are held informally on a walk, rather than at a round table. And before you start working out good habit regular warm-ups and breaks, we will tell you about the changes that occur in your body during continuous sitting.

Your muscles are weakening

So we know that a sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous. But what exactly is this danger? This problem comes down to the anatomical design of our bodies, which were designed by nature to move. This is why a sedentary lifestyle during long period really affects everything internal systems body, and the muscles suffer first. If we consider modern conditions labor, it is worth noting that people tilt their heads towards the monitor while working, and this puts unbearable strain on the neck and lower back. An unnatural body position while sitting can also be observed during long telephone conversations.

Many men and women love to lie in the bath, because it is not so much a hygienic procedure as a real pleasure. You can bask for hours in a warm or hot water and soft foam, but experts say that staying in the bath for a long time is harmful, and there are many important reasons for this.

What happens in hot water

Hot water - about forty to forty-five degrees Celsius - has a good effect on the skin, expands pores, and quickly removes dirt and excess sebum. Also, immersion in such water stimulates a person’s metabolism and has a good effect on blood vessels, they expand, cleanse, and breathing improves. But all this has a beneficial effect if you are in hot bath no more than ten, maximum fifteen minutes. Even if a person feels excellent, then a long procedure begins to negatively affect the same tissues and organs. Doctors say that the heart suffers first of all, especially if the chest area is immersed in hot water for a long time. An increased heartbeat appears, and heart rhythms may fail. Prolonged vasodilation due to hot water lowers overall blood pressure, and for people suffering from hypotension, this can result in fainting. While taking a long hot bath, a person with normal or high blood pressure At the very least, he may suffer from dizziness.

In the presence of any acute or chronic inflammation, especially in case of illness thyroid gland, endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, mastitis, staying in a hot bath for more than ten minutes can be fraught with exacerbation and increase in the severity of the existing pathology.

Moreover, human skin has protective layer, which is washed off even warm water, and even hot and with aggressive bath foams or shower gels this happens even faster. As a result, the skin loses its barrier properties for some time and a person immediately after a bath becomes defenseless against many bacteria and infections. Hot water also exposes the skin to greater heat treatment, and as a result, it begins to age faster, especially on the face, hands and neck.

Even an absolutely healthy person who is accustomed to hot water should stay in such a bath for no more than twenty minutes, otherwise he may experience negative consequences.

Warm bath

The most comfortable and generally beneficial for the body is a warm bath. The water temperature in it should not be lower than thirty-three and higher than thirty-seven degrees. That is, it is a little lower or a little higher normal temperature human body. In such water it is good to perform hygiene procedures for children of any age and adults. A warm bath relaxes muscles and soothes the skin, relieves nervous tension and has a beneficial effect on the condition internal organs. Water close to body temperature does not destroy hair and skin; maceration occurs more slowly in it - water wrinkles on the fingers and feet do not immediately appear. This bath is good to take before bed and sex. And yet, even in warm water you should not lie for a long time; twenty to thirty minutes will be enough to feel the pleasure of bath procedures.

Cold bath

lie in cold water not as pleasant as warm or hot, but doctors recommend such procedures for people susceptible to multiple neuroses, neurasthenia, as well as for loss of appetite and for general hardening body. The temperature of the “cold” bath should be no lower than eighteen and no higher than twenty degrees Celsius. Systematically immersing yourself in such water can improve immunity, strengthen muscle turgor, and increase skin tone. After taking a cold bath to skin blood flow actively rushes, and toxins are quickly removed from the body, and mood improves. But you should remember that you need to lie in cold water from eight to thirty seconds, no more. In this case, the chest area and head should not be immersed in the bath; you should not wash in it. Increased time spent in cold bath threatens to arise respiratory diseases and temporarily elevated blood pressure, which may be accompanied by a headache and the appearance of circles before the eyes.

After the cold water procedures the body must be completely rubbed with a towel to prevent any congestion in muscles and joints. Any properly taken bath will only bring benefits to the body, especially if staying in the water gives a person pleasure.

It is important to know about the problems that arise in long-term patients in order, firstly, to prevent them in time and, secondly, to contribute to their speedy resolution. For some diseases and conditions, early prevention of complications that arise from prolonged lying down means a return to normal life after illness.
Speaking about the problems of long-term patients, one should also remember about prevention, but taking into account the fact that all preventive measures must be agreed with your doctor. All problems can be considered through life support systems.
Respiratory system. A long stay in bed leads to the accumulation of sputum in the bronchi, which becomes very viscous and difficult to cough up. Pneumonia occurs very often. Such pneumonia can be called hyperstatic or hypodynamic, i.e. its cause is either a lot of rest or little movement. How to deal with it? The most important thing is massage chest, physical exercise and taking phlegm thinners - these can be: medicines, and homemade: milk with Borjomi, honey, milk with butter, etc.
It is especially important to solve this problem for older people, so the prevention of pneumonia should be very actively started from the first day after a person falls ill, practically from the first hours.
Vessels. One of the complications resulting from long stay in bed are thrombosis and thrombophlebitis, i.e. the formation of blood clots in the veins, often accompanied by inflammation of the walls of the veins, mainly in lower limbs. This occurs because a person lies motionless for a very long time, the vessels are compressed, the blood stagnates, which leads to the formation of blood clots and inflammation of the vein walls. The cause may be not only immobility, but also the tense position of the limbs. If we place our legs awkwardly, they are in a tense state, not in a relaxed state. This causes the muscle to contract, keeps the blood vessels constricted and reduces blood flow. Next complication which can occur in connection with blood vessels is orthostatic collapse. When a person long time lies, and then is forced, by doctor’s orders or for health reasons, to get up without preparation, he most often experiences orthostatic collapse when arterial pressure decreases sharply when moving from horizontal position to vertical. The person becomes ill, he turns pale and, most importantly, he gets scared. If the next day or a week later you try to raise such a patient again, he will remember how bad he felt, and it is very difficult to convince him that everything will be okay. Therefore, before you lift a person, raise the head of the head, or sit him down, you should find out how long he has been lying in bed, and whether it is worth doing this now, because you must definitely prepare for lifting physical exercise. If the vessels are not ready, you will cause orthostatic collapse in the patient. And the third complication is, of course, fainting. Orthostatic collapse sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness; fainting is always a loss of consciousness. This makes an even stronger impression on the patient; his rehabilitation without eliminating such an unpleasant psychological impact will be very difficult.
Skin covering. The skin suffers greatly because a person lies for a long time and, first of all, we're talking about about bedsores. The person’s skin is compressed under the weight of the patient, which is aggravated by his immobility. This problem may occur when serious illnesses already after 4 hours. Thus, a few hours of immobile position are enough, and a person may develop bedsores. The skin may also suffer from friction from underwear. In addition, a person lying in bed is usually covered with a blanket - poor ventilation contributes to the occurrence of diaper rash. Due to the fact that under the blanket it is difficult to notice whether the patient has urinated or not, whether he is lying wet or dry, maceration may appear over time - irritation of the skin from moisture and solid particles contained in the urine. How to deal with this? Firstly, the most important thing is to change underwear and bed linen very often, turn the patient as often as possible, and the best thing is, if possible, to sit him down for at least a short time. Sitting gives a person greater freedom of movement, activity and promotes recovery. If you are caring for a patient individually at home, then this problem is not so insurmountable. The most difficult thing is to provide proper care for patients in the hospital. When choosing among patients those who are able to sit without your help, you should sit them down at least for a while, having then the opportunity to take care of other patients.
Musculoskeletal system. Joints and muscles also undergo some changes because a person lies down. From a stationary and tense position, the joints begin to “ossify.” The first stage is the formation of contractures, i.e., a decrease in the amplitude of movement, the second is ankylosis, when the joint is completely immobilized in the position in which it is accustomed to being, and it is almost impossible to change its amplitude and restore movement.
In addition, you should pay attention to the foot. In a supine position, the foot, as a rule, sag a little, is in a relaxed state, and if you do not worry about its physiological position, then even when a person can get up, a sagging and relaxed foot will interfere with walking. In female neurology, we had the following case: a young woman lay in bed for a long time after a right-sided stroke, we did not take care of her leg in time. And when she was finally able to walk almost independently, this drop foot bothered her extremely; she constantly clung to everything, dragged and did not allow her to walk normally. We were forced to bandage the foot with a bandage, but still it was already relaxed.
Bones. Over time, prolonged lying causes osteoporosis, i.e., thinning of bone tissue, and the formation of platelets, cells that actively participate in the immune and blood coagulation system, decreases. With little movement, no matter how much calcium a person consumes, it will not bring the desired result. Calcium is absorbed by bones only during active muscle work. It is very important to monitor the body weight of patients who are susceptible to osteoporosis. Therefore, the prevention of osteoporosis is not only proper nutrition, but also in compulsory physical activity.
Urinary system. Prolonged lying down leads to increased calcium release. If a person does not actively move, then calcium, both obtained from food and contained in the bones, begins to be excreted from the body. Calcium is released through the urine, i.e., by the kidneys. The physiological position (lying down) contributes to the fact that calcium is deposited in the bladder, first in the form of “sand”, and then in the form of stones, so long-term patients begin to suffer from urolithiasis over time.
There are factors that contribute to urinary problems. Sometimes urinary incontinence is preceded by frequent urination. Over time, people, especially older people, suddenly “out of the blue” experience urinary incontinence, which is not functional disorder. This may be due to two reasons. Due to the patient's lying position, firstly, he is irritated large surface bladder and, secondly, fluid is redistributed, the load on the heart increases by 20%, as a result of which the body tries to throw out excess liquid due to urination. When a person is actively working, some of his fluid comes out through sweating, breathing, etc., and in a bedridden patient, the release of water occurs, for the most part, through bladder. In the hospital, in case of acute shortage medical personnel, the most important thing is to give patients the opportunity to learn how to use various items so that urination can occur not in the bed, but in some container.
People who depend on others for care often experience discomfort, which can lead to another complication: urinary retention. A person often cannot urinate on his own, because both an uncomfortable position and inability to use a vessel or duck - all this causes acute urinary retention. However, all these problems can be dealt with, especially if you know about them in advance. It is believed that men suffer more from urinary disorders.
Urinary incontinence, in itself, can lead to the formation and increase of bedsores - this is one of the most powerful factors. Urinary incontinence does not cause the formation of bedsores, but it greatly contributes to it. We need to remember this. It happens that, having once urinated in bed, the patient begins to suffer from severe skin irritation in the area of the buttocks, thighs, etc.
Urinary incontinence is a problem that is very often expected by healthcare workers themselves, especially nurses. It seems that if I entered the ward old man with some impairment of consciousness, which means you can expect problems with incontinence. This waiting psychology is very harmful and should be eliminated.
Gastrointestinal tract. After just a few days in bed appears minor violation digestion. Lost appetite. At first, the patient may experience constipation, and subsequently constipation, interspersed with diarrhea. At home, all foods served to the patient must be fresh. You should always try them yourself first. This rule is written down even in the manuals of the last century for nurses.
Factors that contribute various violations in the activity of the gastrointestinal tract - this, naturally, is a supine position, immobility, constant use of a bedpan, uncomfortable conditions, lack of active muscle load, which increases intestinal tone.
Nervous system. The first problem here is insomnia. Patients who have been in the ward for one or two days immediately have their sleep disturbed. They begin to ask for sedatives, sleeping pills, etc. To prevent insomnia, the most important thing is to involve the person as much as possible during the day so that he is occupied with various medical procedures, self-care, communication, i.e. so that he stays awake. If it was not possible to cope with insomnia in this way, you can, with the permission of a doctor, resort to soothing decoctions, mixtures, etc., but not strong tablets, because the sleeping pills have a very serious effect on the brain, and in older people this may result in impaired consciousness.
Separately, it should be said about patients who already have a disease of central or peripheral nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis or some kind of lesion spinal cord etc. If for some reason a person is forced to lie in bed, then his ability to lead an active lifestyle decreases. Even a short-term illness affects the functioning of all body systems. And in people who have diseases of the nervous system, this period increases three to four times. For example, if a patient with multiple sclerosis forced to lie down due to a broken leg, then he recovery period very big. A whole month of various physiotherapeutic procedures is needed for a person to learn to walk again and return to the lifestyle that he led previously. Therefore, if patients with a disease of the nervous system are in a supine position for a long time, they need to be especially intensively engaged in gymnastics and massage so that later they can return to normal image life.
Hearing. When people are admitted to the hospital, they often experience various, often progressive hearing impairments, especially in the elderly. Our foreign colleagues note that this is due to the fact that the hospital is very large premises, and where there are large rooms - there is an echo, and where there is an echo - there the hearing is constantly strained and weakens over time.
Nurses often do not understand that a person requires such an expenditure of strength to overcome pain that in order to distinguish the words addressed to him by medical personnel or people around him, additional effort is required, beyond his capabilities. For these cases you can give simple recommendations. You need to talk to a person on the same level. In hospitals, in particular, and maybe at home, nurses get used to “hovering” over the patient’s bed, and talking to the person above you is very difficult, psychological depression arises - the patient no longer understands what is being said to him. Therefore, when you communicate with a patient, it is better to sit on a chair or the edge of the bed, so that you are on the same level with him. It is imperative to see the patient’s eyes in order to determine whether he understands you or not. It is also important that the patient can see your lips, then it is easier for him to understand what you are saying. If you are communicating in a really large room, then there is another technique - talk not in the middle of this large hall or room, but somewhere in a corner, where there is less echo and the sound is clearer.
Another group of patients are those who have hearing aids. When a person gets sick, he may forget about his hearing aid and this, of course, will complicate his communication with other people. Also, remember that hearing aids operate on batteries, the battery may run out and hearing aid will not work. There is another problem related to hearing. When we communicate with a person, not knowing that he does not hear us, his behavior sometimes seems very strange to us. He smiles when he is asked about something serious, when there is no need to smile at all. And it seems to us that the person is a little “out of his mind.” So, first you need to check your hearing, vision and speech. And only if it turns out that hearing, vision and speech are normal, then we can talk about mental disorders.
Another problem for long-term patients is maintaining their dignity. As a rule, any sick person lying in bed, often half naked or not very tidy, forced to resort to the help of other people with physiological functions, hygiene procedures, suffers greatly if the caring staff does not comply with the most simple rules to preserve his human dignity. Then this feeling becomes dull, and it often happens that those patients who are taken to an operation, examination, or escorted to the toilet room, sufficiently it doesn’t matter in what form they go out into the corridor.
Of course, there is a lot of work in the hospital, it is difficult to think about the dignity of the patients. However, everyone medical worker must constantly remember this problem - no less than the fact that he must give an enema, give injections, write out a prescription, fill out some documentation.
When a person is admitted to the hospital, a reason to go to bed automatically appears for him. A patient enters, for example, a course of chemotherapy, he gets into the ward, he is told: here is your bed, your bedside table, often there is nowhere to even sit down - you have to lie down right away. It's all overwhelming vital activity human, and this should, if possible, be combated. The distance to the bed must be somehow lengthened, and various barriers must be placed. There may be other ways. When we come to a seriously ill patient, we really want to console him, feel sorry for him, and alleviate his suffering, but very often the prevention of complications is associated with the fact that we need to go through pain, through inconvenience, through “I can’t.” The nurse in this case should be not only a nurse, but also an educator, a teacher in some sense.
T.E. Bashkirova,
teacher of St. Dimitrievsky
College of Sisters of Mercy