Читать книгу Understanding the Language of Silence - Sleep, Sleep Behavior and Sleep Disorders - Dr. Amrit Lal - Страница 16

Sleep is a basic requirement for survival which influences many aspects of our lives, including how we think, what we believe in, our rest, leisure and economic activity. It is a sensitive barometer of health and is being increasingly recognized as an important health issue. Sleep is an element of potential energy which is to be managed consciously, for getting an appropriate amount of sleep has a salutary effect on one’s wellbeing both at home and at work. We recognize that after a well-rested good night sleep or after a midday siesta one feels more energetic and alert. In an experiment, rats deprived of sleep, died within two to three weeks. Sleep affects every aspect of our physiology “the heart, lungs and kidneys; appetite, metabolism and weight control; immune functions and disease resistance; sensitivity to pain; reaction time, mood and brain function,” according to sleep specialists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Getting the right amount of sleep is vital, but just as important is the quality of sleep. Sleep deprivation or fragmented sleep marked by many nighttime arousals affect decision making, cause lack of focus and concentration, make one impatient, irritable and cause memory impairment. These are some of the insidious effects of sleep deprivation at night which invariably slows down mental cognition involving learning, memory, judgement and problem solving. These are fundamentally mental issues which often accompanies aging marked by chronically poor sleep In addition, it is a sure recipe for marital disharmony.

How much sleep we need varies between individuals, but this need changes as we age. The non-profit National Sleep Foundation in the United States suggests that children from 5 to 10 years of age require 10 – 11 hours of sleep each day, 10 – 17 years need 8.5 to 9 hours, and adults need 7 – 9 hours of sleep daily to function optimally during the course of the day. By the rule of thumb, healthy adults do well with 7 – 8 hours of sleep each day for their normal physiologic, psychological and sociological functions. But according to National Health Interview in 2005 nearly 30% of adults reported an average of 6 hours or less of sleep each day. Sleep insufficiency is, accordingly, a great national health problem and harbinger of many health issues.

Half of the Americans have at least occasional insomnia. As detailed in Wikipedia a survey of 1.1 million residents in the United States it was found that severe insomnia – sleeping less than 3.5 hours in women and 4.5 hours in men led to 15 percent increase in mortality. Apart from this finding, the use of sleeping pills was found to be linked to increase in mortality rate. The lowest mortality was found in those sleeping between six and half hours and seven and half hours per night. Again, as long as an insomniac refrains from sleeping pills, there is little to no increase in mortality directly associated with insomnia (in fact, it is an axiomatic - “Insomnia, per se, has not killed anyone.”), but that does not appear to increase in longevity .

Sleep stage on awakening is an important factor in amplifying sleep inertia which tends to be very little if the sleeper awakes from light sleep. If awaken from deep sleep, sleep inertia or sleep hangover is high. The amount of sleep we need is the duration of time necessary to wake up refreshed and alert. However, on the total amount of sleep for optimal day health, alertness and well-being, opinions vary widely, with most of them converging on an 8-hour average duration for a 24-hour period. This is generally accepted as a norm for healthy adults. Adults sleeping less than 7 – 9 hours per night are more likely prone to ill health and to have difficulty in performing many daily tasks.

An estimated 50 – 70 million US adults have sleep disorders which presage them to number of psycho-somatic issues. Chronic failure to get enough sleep can compromise the functioning of body and mind or even shorten life by negatively affecting a number of vital systems – the heart, lung, kidneys, appetite and weight control, immune system and disease resistance, sensitivity to pain, reaction time, mood and brain function in addition to being a major risk factor for depression and substance abuse. Getting fewer than six hours of sleep a night can raise the risk of stroke according to a research paper presented at to 2012 Associated Professional Sleep Scientists meeting in the United States.

During daytime work an individual uses up a lot of hormones which keep him/her in good health. These hormones are replenished by the endocrine system when we are asleep. Among these, somatotropin (also called growth hormone) is also released during sleep, which helps in the reconstructive task of repairing worn out cells and those cells destroyed during the waking hours. . Release of growth hormone is related, in part, to repair processes that occur during sleep. At the same, certain chemicals in the body, among them peptides, are produced, which not only have sleep-inducing effects but are also known to bolster human immune system by increasing the production of anti-bodies.

Sleep is deeply inter-connected with health and performance - an important biological ritual for every night which is to be taken very seriously. Michael J. Twery, a sleep specialist at National Institute of Health says that sleep affects almost every tissue of our body. A number of body systems are adversely affected by inadequate sleep – the heart, lungs, kidneys, appetite, mood , immune system and disease resistance, reaction time, sensitivity to pain, nerve and brain function. Recently some researchers led by Timothy A Rochers, Ph.D (at Sleep Disorders and Research Center, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, US) found out that extra sleep might trigger chemicals that help brain cope with pain. These findings were based on a small scale study that when mildly sleep-deprived adults get 2 hours more sleep per night than usual, they have less sensitivity to pain after just a few days – “an effect equal to taking 60 milligram of the painkiller codeine.”

Some studies links inadequate sleep with obesity – a major public health concern in the United States. Not only at night the sleep-deprived individuals have more time to eat and drink by way of midnight snacks, but levels of hormone, leptin, which tells the brain enough food has been consumed, are lower while the level of ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, are higher in the sleep-deprived individuals.. In other words, sleep deprivation is associated with decreased ‘leptin’ levels and elevated ‘ghrelin’ levels, an imbalance between the two results in increased appetite. So little more sleep may result in a little less compulsive eating. A little more sleep thus always helps when it comes to individual health. At the same time, activity to process body glucose is affected, which may ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes because sleep regulates sugar metabolism.

Sleep is a heightened anabolic state (constructive metabolism), accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune system, nervous, skeletal and muscularly systems to ward-off a variety of infections and ensures total well-being of the individual. It is nature’s best medicine when most of the healing takes place; both physical and psychological. Both heart rate and blood pressure are at optimum level and body has a chance to rest and regenerate. Inadequate sleep releases less of the “pleasure” hormone or serotonin for adequate comfort level of an individual. To compensate for this deficiency human body tries to increase serotonin levels by craving for foods like sugar or addictive substances like tobacco or coffee.

We all have God-given ability to fall asleep anywhere. Sleep is a good, normal and important part of life. The saying, “Sleep is a golden chain that ties health and body together” is truer today than any time in the past because of the ever-increasing strains of modernity. Sleep not only energizes the mind and body, but has a tremendous recuperative action. This is to say that during the periodic suspensions of consciousness (which sleep is), the power of the mind and body is fully restored.

A full night sleep is essential for body to function at its best and to keep hormones in balance. A restful sleep increases strength, happiness, vitality and intellect and lays a solid base for the day’s work ahead by ensuring the optimal functioning of both body and brain. As a Spanish writer said, “Sleep is the best cure for walking trouble,” or to quote the ancient Greek dramatist, Sophocles, “Sleep is the only medicine that gives ease.” Apart from its recuperative power, sleep conserves energy and allows us to recoup it fast when it gets consumed in waking activity. Almost all healing, including wound-healing, has been shown to be positively influenced by sleep. In addition, as said earlier, sleep raises threshold of pain. It helps cognitive faculties – “A fresh mind learns best” goes an old saying.