You may literally have to add it to your to-do list, but scheduling a good night's sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. It's not just daytime drowsiness you risk when shortchanging yourself on your seven to eight hours. Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In addition to letting life get in the way of good sleep, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder-insomnia or sleep apnea, say-that affects daily functioning and impinges on health. Consider the research:

1） Less may mean more. For people who sleep under seven hours a night, the fewer zzzz's they get, the more obese they tend to be, according to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report. This may relate to the discovery that insufficient sleep appears to tip hunger hormones out of whack. Leptin, which suppresses appetite, is lowered; ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, gets a boost.

2） You're more apt to make bad food choices. A study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that people with obstructive sleep apnea or other severely disordered breathing while asleep ate a diet higher in cholesterol, protein, total fat, and total saturated fat. Women were especially affected.

3） Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, its precursor, may become more likely. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people getting five or fewer hours of sleep each night were 2.5 times more likely to be diabetic, while those with six hours or fewer were 1.7 times more likely.

4） The ticker is put at risk. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45 percent more likely in women who slept for five or fewer hours per night than in those who got more.

5） Blood pressure may increase. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, has been associated with chronically elevated daytime blood pressure, and the more severe the disorder, the more significant the hypertension, suggests the 2006 IOM report. Obesity plays a role in both disorders, so losing weight can ease associated health risks.

表面上你可能不得不把睡觉当做是必须要做的事，但是晚上睡眠好可是保持健康的最明智的头等大事。轻忽自欺那七八个小时的睡眠，不仅仅冒着白天犯困的危险，睡眠太少还可能危害健康，包括导致心血管病，引起内分泌失调、免疫系统失调以及神经系统失调。

为了获得良好的睡眠，五到七千万的美国人正在遭受睡眠紊乱，失眠或者睡眠窒息，严重每天正常生活，侵害健康。

考虑一下下面的研究发现：

1）睡的越少，长的越胖。据2006年科学研究院的报告显示，每晚睡眠少于七个小时的人，打呼噜的时间少了，也就更容易发胖。联系到一项研究发现：睡眠不足似乎会把饥饿荷尔蒙从被压抑状态释放出来。抑制食欲的瘦蛋白减少，饥饿激素剧增，刺激胃口大开。

2）更易选择不应该吃的食物。本周，发表在《临床睡眠医学》上的一项研究发现，患有阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停或者睡眠过程中其它严重呼吸紊乱的人，吃的食物中含有的胆固醇、蛋白质、全脂、饱和脂肪酸更高。女性尤为如此。

3）更易导致糖尿病和葡萄糖耐受性失调。2005年发表在《内部医学文献》上的一项研究发现，睡眠不足5个小时的人换患糖尿病的可能性是常人的2.5倍，不足6个小时的人则是1.7倍。

4）心脏岌岌可危。2003年的一项研究发现，睡眠不足5个小时的女性患有心脏病的可能性是比其睡眠多的人高45%.

5）血压易升高。例如，据2006年《内部医学文献》报告显示，阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停已经和长期的日期血压升高联系起来了，睡眠紊乱越严重血压越高。高血压和睡眠紊乱，肥胖都是罪魁祸首，因此减肥能够减少一些相关的健康隐患。