The Mechanics of Sleep
Sleep is an essential human need as important as food, air and water. Lack of sufficient sleep leads to a number of short and long-term health problems including; compromised immune system, high blood pressure, heart problems, mental health issues, and weight gain. Sufficient sleep on the other hand generates a number of health benefits.
Functions of Sleep
Sleep has a regenerative benefit. During waking hours the central nervous system is processing huge amounts of visual, auditory and tactile information. Activated neurons are transmitting, interpreting and categorizing data and storing it for possible later retrieval. With approximately 100 billion neurons there is a constant need to replenish the supply. Without the restorative advantage of sleep the regenerative benefits are compromised and neural atrophy (death) overtakes the replacement needs. Hence confused thinking and delayed reflexes are the first signs of sleep deprivation.
Sleep helps maintain the delicate balance of neurotransmitters necessary for regulating moods and managing emotions. The physiological stress of frequently burning the midnight oil causes increased flow of the stress response hormones; cortisol and no
Sleep helps maintain the delicate balance of neurotransmitters necessary for regulating moods and managing emotions. The physiological stress of frequently burning the midnight oil causes increased flow of the stress response hormones; cortisol and norepinephrine upsetting this important homeostatic balance.
Sleep tones the immune system. Illness much like an injury requires rest. The competitive demands of digestion, physical exertion and the stressors of the day all compete for nutrient resources leaving less for the immune system to do its job effectively.
Given that good sleep is a necessary part of daily routine the practices we associate with it will determine the quality of our sleep. These practices become habits. We either have learned and practiced good sleep habits or poor sleep habits. Good sleep habits are composed of several very different stages, all requisite for a good night's sleep.
Stage 1 sleep is the time frame immediately before falling asleep: you become drowsy, thoughts wander and eyes close. Conscious awareness decreases.
Stage 2 sleep begins after you’ve spent only a few minutes in Stage 1. This second level is where you’ll spend most of the night and where you get much of your rest.
Stage 3 or delta sleep is deep sleep. You normally move in and out of this stage during the night, using stage 2 as a sort of base. Both stage 2 and stage 3 sleep are restful and restorative or they help re-energize your body.
Stage 4 REM or rapid eye movement sleep refers to periods when you are dreaming. Your mind is almost as active as when you’re awake, but your body is extremely relaxed These periods occur about every hour or hour-and-a-half throughout the night. Each one lasts five to ten minutes.
Typically, we go through a 90 minute sleep cycle. We should go into a period of deep sleep and then cycle into a light sleep or REM sleep. It is during the REM sleep or lighter sleep period that we might wake up.
In order for you to gain the benefits sleep offers you, you need to have all of these stages of sleep in appropriate amounts. Many with poor sleep habits do not experience all the cycles or they spend more time in the light sleep cycle than in the deep sleep cycle.
HOW MUCH SLEEP DO WE NEED?
We have all heard that we should strive for eight hours sleep a night, but there are other things to keep in mind.
The Natural Need
There is something called the Circadian Rhythm. We inherently respond to visual cues such as the clock and the amount of daylight or darkness we experience. Research shows that humans seem built more for a 25-hour day than a 24-hour day. Additionally, patterns can vary considerably to the point that sleep schedules can vary as much as several hours.
Research has also found that some people like to break their daily sleep into segments: a longer segment during the night with a nap during the day. Of course, this pattern of sleep is common in many parts of the world.
The Age Factor
Infants sleep anywhere from 14 to 17 hours a day, by the time they are 4 months old 10 to 12 hours at night with 3-5 hours of naps during the day. Then the need for sleep slowly decreases until, at age six, it‘s about 11 hours a night and by 10 years of age requires about 9 and a half hours. By the time a young person is in his late teens, he needs an average of seven-and-a half hours of sleep a night with exceptions during faster growth periods.
Sleep needs stay pretty stable throughout adulthood until the seventies or so, but the quality of sleep changes as early as the fifties, Older adults have shorter and fewer periods of deep sleep and are more likely to wake during the night and wake earlier in the morning than they want to. Older folks tend to have more trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Sleep Needs Vary from Person to Person
We’ve noted on reaching adulthood our bodies require an average of seven and—a-half hours of sleep. But this varies a great deal from one person to another. Some adults live comfortably on as little as four or five hours sleep a night. Others are tired and irritable if they sleep less than eight hours.
So there is no hard and fast rule about how much sleep an individual should get. The only rule is that each person should sleep long enough and well enough to feel fresh and alert with the normal energy to function well in daily life.
The Immune System and the Body
It has also become clear that a lack of sleep disables our immune system; some researchers say even one wakeful night can weaken you enough to allow a cold or other virus to take hold.It seems that your body uses Stage 2 sleep to repair and restore various physical systems, including the immune system. Coming in contact with infectious germs is an inevitable daily occurrence, but a well-conditioned immune system can fight these off, but if the immune system is depleted, inflammation can be hard to avoid and equally hard to break.
As Shakespeare warned, “Get enough sleep, or you’ll get sick."
Do I Have a Problem?
Whenever we miss a night’s sleep, or several nights’ sleep, the effects become all to apparent. This surely accounts for the abundant supply of over the counter sleep aids, not to mention prescription sleep medications
But the fact is, everyone has trouble sleeping now and again. It’s a normal part of life. How can you tell whether you’re just experiencing a normal phase or you’ve got a real problem?
Know Your Sleep Pattern
You have a sleep pattern that’s uniquely yours; it’s partly inherited, and partly due to the
the way you live. You need to determine if this pattern is working for you or against you:
Do you try to go to bed before you’re naturally tired?
Do you get tired long before bedtime?
Do you take more than half an hour to go to sleep?
Do you wake more than once during the night?
Is your sleep disturbed by nightmares, sweating, breathing problems, pain, or sudden body movements?
Has anyone told you that you snore, grind your teeth, talk in your sleep, or move? rhythmically while you sleep?
Do you wake up much earlier than you want or need to?
Are you tired or drowsy during the day time?
Do you ever fall asleep during daily activities?
An answer of “yes” to more than two of these questions could mean that you do indeed have a sleeping disorder.
“Sleep Debt”
Researchers note that a century ago, Canadian got about one more hour sleep each night than Canadians do today, According the Canadian Sleep Society 60 per cent of Canadian adults feel tired most of the time and get, on average, 6.9 hours of sleep a night, although experts recommend eight hours. Canadian research indicates 30 per cent of adults get fewer than six hours a night. Now we know that our bodies haven’t changed much during those three or four generations; so why are we sleeping less?
In those days, before electricity and especially TV, nighttime and darkness meant bedtime. Today; we have plenty of things to keep us busy into the wee hours of the morning. Busy schedules, demanding work loads, long commutes, social media leaves the impression many feel obliged to cram more into the late night or the early morning hours.
With all the demands many think that if they could only eliminate sleep, then they would have just that many more hours to be productive.
This is called sleep debt: the hours continually borrowed from your sleep time in order to get more done. Trying to repay the sleep debt when the weekend rolls around rarely suffices.
" Burn Out" is the vernacular of our day. Sleep deprivation comes with its inevitable fallout: depleted energy levels, a constant state of malaise, loss of motivation, sleep that is no longer refreshing, trouble getting out of bed, irritability, lower stress threshold. Sleep Clinics are popping up all over the country to treat the increasing number of people with serious sleep disorders.
What people really need is to completely revise their sleep habits and patterns.
Sleep Disorders
It may be that you have more than the occasional problem getting enough sleep. Canada ranks third among nations with chronic sleep issues.
Insomnia Mild versions are referred to as “transient insomnia” Transient insomnia refers to episodes of sleeplessness that come and go quickly. Chronic insomnia on the other is much more persistent and longer term. This is not to suggest there are not good night sleeps, however they are not sufficient to maintain the “feel good state”.
Narcolepsy is a neurological condition where falling a sleep happens almost spontaneously
Sleep apnea of which there are two types; obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. The former is where normal respirations are hindered by an obstruction impairing the capacity to sleep restfully. The latter is the result of abnormalities in the central nervous system.
“Busy sleepers” are people who go to sleep and stay asleep for the night but wake feeling as though they haven’t slept. Many of these are people who are busy during their sleep. Theses individuals are usually continuing to worry or think about problems or issues and haven’t allowed the brain to quiet down and relax and obtain rest. One example is bruxism, or teeth grinding, creating muscle tension and noise. Another example is loud snoring, which can interfere with the sleeper’s ability to move from one sleep stage to the next. And some people have “restless leg syndrome” or rhythmic movements: rocking, foot-tapping, or sudden jerking movements throughout the night.
Almost everyone talks in his sleep once in a while. But some people do it every night, and it may include loud shouting. Others go even further, getting out of bed and walking around, their eyes may be open, but they are asleep.
These activities can prevent the sleeper from achieving normal restful sleep. But they also disturb the sleep of the other person in the room
Why Can't I Sleep?
A quick search of the Web will detail the causes of insomnia and other sleep disorders. This is a good place to look after you take some time to figure out your own sleep patterns.
Sleep Patterns
Start by looking at your own sleep habits. If you’re in the habit of sleeping late, it is going to be that much harder to get to sleep at a regular time the next night.
Do you take naps? How long are they? If you’re having trouble sleeping at night, it may be because you’re napping during the day and don’t need that amount of sleep. Changes in routine effect both energy levels and sleep requirements. Being over tired can become a problem. There is a “window” when falling is easier and once passed trying to get to sleep takes much longer. Sometimes we stay up late as a way of avoiding the tomorrow from coming. The problem is that not only does tomorrow come but in addition, we are tired and exhausted.
Sleep environment counts as well. If you are trying to sleep in a room that’s too cold or too hot, or on a bed that makes your back ache, or with someone who is a noisy sleeper, it should not be surprising that you toss and turn.
Activity Level
Sleep comes when you’re tired; do you allow yourself to get tired?
You man feel mentally tired, but if you spend your day in work that involves little activity and then relax by sitting around, you’ll take some unused physical energy to bed with you. So, a sedentary lifestyle is generally unhealthy, and it also makes it hard to sleep.
Television is considered relaxation by most people. But heavy TV watchers get less exercise and less stress—reducing activity; they also snack more. All of this has a negative effect on sleep.
Physical work or cardio vascular exercise that vigorously uses your large muscles is an essential part of a healthy wake-sleep cycle. We tend to bottle up energy and stress in our body, particularly in our chest, shoulders, and neck area of the body… By exercising, it allows this pent up energy to be released so that we are not carrying it to bed with us causing us to have a restless nights sleep.
Eating Habits
What you eat, how much you eat, when you eat has an effect on your sleep. You are not able to eat a heavy meal with food that is hard to digest and expect to be able to sleep calmly. The body will be working to digest this food and thus keep you awake, One should not eat a large meal at least two to three hours before going to bed.
If you go to bed hungry you may have trouble getting to sleep, then sleep restlessly and wake up feeling tired and shaky.
What you eat matters tool If your diet is high in sugar, and especially if you have high- sugar foods near bedtime, you’re giving your body mixed messages: you‘re trying to go to sleep, but the sugar is revving you up for more action.
Stress Anxiety and Nervous Tension
It Is not unusual after a busy day to take the worries and concerns of the day to bed. It is easy to rationalize taking the extra time to process what took place during the day, yet such practices are major driver of insomnia. Overthinking, obsessive thinking, resurrecting past grievances are not uncommon amongst those experiencing insomnia.
Experiencing high levels of change; change in work assignments, change in locations, a lot of travel, or change in friends and family, can cause a disturbance in sleep.
DRUGS
Coffee tea, energy drinks and pop infused with sugar all fall under the umbrella of drugs. Like alcohol and tobacco they all affect the way we sleep. It takes about three hours for the caffeine to clear your system. Nicotine and sugars impact metabolism disrupting the natural cyclic rhythm our body needs to function properly.
Alcohol and marijuana have a sedative effect while most street drugs are classed as stimulants all of which play havoc with natural body chemicals designed to maintain metabolic equilibrium. It does not take much to upset the delicate balance that keeps us even keeled.
Medications
Medications may be contributing to your sleep difficulties.
Over-the counter medications for colds, headaches, allergies, weight control, and even pain relief often contain caffeine, sometimes far more than that in a cup of a coffee. Check the label of your medication: if it contains more than 30 or 40 milligrams of caffeine, it may keep you awake.
Some prescription medications also cause sleep disturbances, including some antidepressants, high blood pressure, asthma, thyroid and hormone preparations, among others. If you suspect your medication is to blame for your insomnia, ask you doctor about it. Don‘t stop taking the medication on your own, but the time of day they are taken may be able to be adjusted. Again, check with your physician!
Where Do I Begin?
Common sense and sleep experts agree almost all sleep problems can be remedied by the individual. However, as we each have our own unique characteristics and patterns some adaptations will be necessary. What works for one may not work for another. FIND THE CAUSE
Examining your pre-sleep habits as mentioned earlier is a good starting point. Pay attention to the symptoms you are experiencing. Note the frequency, duration or time it takes to get to sleep. How does this compare to your friends or partner’s experience. If you’re awakening because of someone else’s sleep problems, discuss it with them. As you begin the process keep in mind that new habits or practices are going to take time to develop. You are developing or re establishing more functional sleep habits and patterns, allow yourself sufficient time to be ensure you are reaping the benefits of your efforts.
1. What about Sleeping Pills?
The all too frequent first measure is a sleeping pill as it can be a “a quick fix” measure.
Non-prescription sleeping pills are usually a form of an antihistamine that are intended to make you drowsy. They are expensive, and although they work well for some people; they don’t work at all for others. The most common complaint is they only work for awhile. There is often a rebound effect where the sleep problems previously experienced actually appear worse. This is also true for prescription medications. Given only the short-term benefits of sleeping pills, natural methods will provide a more enduring remedy without the unwanted side effects.
More recently natural ingredients with fewer side effects and a chemical composition of natural brain chemicals are being introduced. Tryptophan 5HTP, melatonin, magnesium are examples of sleep helps that can be purchased over the counter. Check with your physician about these.
2. Tried and True Strategies
a) Get up at a normal time, even if you’re tired.
b) Eat your heaviest meals earlier in the day; within a couple of hours of bedtime.
c) Exercise during the day or after supper; don’t exercise an hour or two before bed.
d) Do not smoke, take a nap or use alcohol before bedtime.
e) Be sure to have some pleasant relaxation - other than TV.
f) Avoid any caffeine drinks after 4 pm.
g) Unless you have no other choice, use your bedroom only for sleep.
h) If you have pain, take a no-caffeine pain reliever at bedtime.
Now you’re ready to give it a try. Go to bed seven or eight hours before the time you have to get up and stick with your new routine for at least three weeks to give it a chance to work and become a habit for you.
3. Getting to Sleep
You may need to make a change in your sleep habits. Make sure you understand that sleeping is a learned habit. We need to focus on doing all we can to improve the sleep habits we have. A good night’ does not come about just by chance.
Create a bedtime ritual. Let your bedtime follow the same procedure every night, for instance, change your clothes, brush you teeth, take a hot relaxing bath, read a relaxing book, listen to some calm relaxing music. The procedure itself will help you get your brain ready for sleep.
Using progressive relaxation techniques such as meditation, prayer, calming music are all conducive for falling asleep.
Relaxation breathing can work as well as a sleeping pill. Relax in the dark; breathe in normally; and as you breathe out, think the word, “relax”. Keep doing this; if your mind wanders, gently come back to your breathing.
Minimize distractions, disturbances, and annoyances, such as room temperature, lights, noise, and a clock clicking.
Sometimes, nothing seems to work. It may be necessary and even beneficial to get up and take the focus away from not sleeping. Pick up some casual reading material, go to the bathroom, relax on the couch for a few minutes, but do not snack. Reflect on something positive that happened during the day or recall a pleasant memory, count your blessings.
Acceptance is another tool. “okay I am having a difficult time getting to sleep. This too will pass” Maintain a self talk that acknowledges the present situation and even give it your permission to be there. Alternatively, they lie in the dark and remain quiet and relaxed. They just accept their wakefulness. This very acceptance can lead to rest, relaxation and eventually sleep.
If worry is keeping you awake, try setting aside a half-hour during the day just for worry and specifically for planning and scheduling, If worries return at bedtime, remind yourself this a time to sleep not process information.
I will conclude with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson — ‘That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased. Sleeping is a habit. With practice and persistence good sleeping habits can become second nature bringing with it a multitude of benefits.
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