Researchers of a new study suggest that smokers who don't get proper sleep at night should consider quitting the habit to enjoy a peaceful night's sleep.
Smoking and tobacco use still remains the number one cause of preventable disease and death in America. Each year, smoking accounts for over 400,000 deaths in the country. The U.S. spends $97 billion in lost productivity plus $96 billion in health care expenditures every year due to tobacco use.
Health hazards are not the only reason why one should quit smoking, researchers of a new study found. A team of researchers from University of Florida and Research Triangle Park found that people who quit smoking also experience improved sleep quality.
For the study, researchers looked into the sleeping problems a large sample of participants (both smokers and non-smokers) had. They found that 11.9% of current smokers had trouble falling asleep, 10.6% woke in the night and 9.5% got up too early in the morning. Comparatively, these statistics were much lower among non-smokers. Researchers also noted that smokers who quit smoking experienced a remarkable improvement in their sleep quality. Also, each complete cigarette smoked was found to decrease sleep by over 1.2 minutes.
Previous studies have linked sleeping disorders to other disorders like diabetes, depression and high blood sugar, among other mental and physical health problems. The findings of this study led researchers to believe that poor sleep among smokers might make them more vulnerable to health issues related to sleeping disorders, along with other health hazards associated with smoking.
