By Susheela Bhat, Life Quotes, Inc.

We’re not accusing you of snoring, but let’s get technical for a moment. When you fall asleep, the soft tissues in your body relax, and sometimes block your airways. Snoring is your body’s way of moving soft tissue out of the way. If you have a sleep disorder, the best way to get insurance at an afforable rate is to get treated.

“Without proper sleep, the body is under stress and releases hormones to combat that, this increases blood pressure— and the body literally goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode,” says Tom Hinerman, partner for the Hinerman Group in Salida, Colo.

For people with chronic-sleep disorders, snoring can sound like a chain-saw symphony.  And often, snoring is an indication of a serious sleeping disorder such as sleep apnea.

Another hazard of losing sleep is the possibility of developing breast cancer. Research by scientists at Japan’s Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in 2008, found that women who regularly slept less than six hours a night increased their risk of developing breast cancer by 62 percent when compared to women who slept seven hours or more each night. The eight-year study followed the lifestyle of 24,000 women who were between the ages of 40 and 79. Of the 24,000 women studied, 143 were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sleep apnea causes a person to stop breathing for short periods during sleep. Depending on severity, as the airways close, a person can stop breathing five to 50 times during the night. More often than not, people with sleep apnea are literally gasping for air during the night while their bodies fight to get enough oxygen.

WebMD.com outlines a list of effects sleep deprivation can have on a person’s health, well-being and bank account.

Disrupted sleep is deadly—even that precious hour lost during daylight savings time can have hazardous consequences. An article published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that losing an hour of sleep increases the threat of on-the-job injuries for those in hazardous work environments.

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