Why is sleep important? |
Getting enough sleep is more important than just getting your beauty rest. Inadequate or poor-quality sleep is called insomnia.
Insomnia includes the following: - difficulty falling asleep
- waking up frequently during the night and having problems going back to sleep
- waking up too early in the morning
- waking up tired or unrefreshed
Sleep plays a much more important role than just providing rest! It restores both the mind and the body, allowing you to function at peak levels the next day. Many people don't realize that lack of sleep, or sleep deprivation, is a major contributor to medical conditions including depression, high blood pressure, obesity and the early onset of kidney disease and diabetes. Lack of sleep also plays a role in memory loss, and may cause problems during the day, such as tiredness, a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, poor judgement and irritability. Inadequate sleep can lead to injuries at work and even motor vehicle accidents. To be healthy and stay healthy, you must get enough sleep. [top of page] |
What does sleep do? |
When we are sleeping the brain processes the day's activities and thoughts putting them into memory. Sleep allows our brain to re-organize information. Unimportant information is "erased" and important information is locked into our permanent memory. Infants, who are acquiring information at a rate faster than at any other point during life, sleep the most. Adequate sleep also increases our ability to solve problems. In fact, sleep is so important, we hear of sleep deprivation as a form of torture. There are many theories as to what sleep does: - Sleep improves an animal’s survival. An animal deprived of sleep has a much shorter life span.
- Sleep conserves energy. Animals that move fast and have high metabolisms sleep more to conserve their energy.
- Sleep restores the body. During sleep, your body goes to work actively repairing itself. Damaged cells are replaced with new ones, while organs and muscles are repaired and re-energized. The immune system is also boosted during sleep.
Inadequate sleep can disrupt the immune system, decreasing the ability to fight off diseases and illness. Lack of sleep can cause problems with memory and concentration; this is commonly seen as a difficulty in finding words (when you can't find the word you are thinking of) and should not be dismissed as being unimportant. Sleep disorders also result in irritability. There are higher divorce rates in people with sleep problems. The economic impact is also high with lost productivity, absenteeism at work, accidents (both road and work) and medications (stimulants or sleeping pills) all playing a role. Two stages of sleep have been identified and they are not equal for learning: rapid eye movement (REM) or dream sleep and non-REM (NREM). Dream sleep may be the key for learning. Babies and children experience a larger portion of dream sleep than adults, and adults who are in school or undergoing intense training increase their amount of REM sleep. The average adult spends 20-25% of sleep time in REM sleep, with the remainder of the time in NREM sleep. During a typical night, the normal drowsy adult passes through varying cycles of NREM and REM sleep. As we age we spend less time in dream sleep which may be why adults don’t learn as fast as children. [top of page] |
What is the right amount of sleep? |
How much sleep do you really need? In general, most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Children and adolescents need even more - around nine to ten hours per night. However, the amount of sleep that people need varies widely, ranging from five to ten hours per night. The important thing is to find out how much sleep you need to stay healthy and alert, and then try to get this amount of sleep each night. The right amount of sleep is the amount that lets you wake up feeling refreshed and well. You may be able to function on the amount of sleep you are getting now, but it still may not be enough for you to reach your full potential.
Here's how to tell if you're not getting enough sleep: - You need an alarm clock to wake up
- You sleep longer and better on weekends
- You have trouble getting out of bed in the morning
- You feel tired during the day
- You have bags or dark circles under your eyes
- You doze off while sitting in a public place, such as a movie theatre or meeting
- You doze off while driving
- You have trouble concentrating
- You have early morning headaches
If you notice any of these signs, you may not be getting enough sleep. Try to gradually increase the amount of sleep that you get each night until you find the right amount - you'll know that you've got it when these signs start to go away. If you haven't been getting enough sleep for a long time, it may take a while to recover. [top of page] |
What is insomnia? |
What is insomnia? Most people would say that it is difficulty in getting to sleep. But it is more than that. Insomnia includes the following: - difficulty falling asleep
- waking up often during the night and having problems going back to sleep
- waking up too early in the morning
- waking up tired or unrefreshed
There are two types of insomnia: acute (temporary) and chronic (long-term). Most of us have experienced a sleepless night where we've tossed and turned and counted sheep until the sun came up. We might have been worrying about a personal problem or have been unable to sleep because of an illness, fever, heartburn, aches and pains. When this sleeplessness lasts only for a few nights or, at most, a few weeks, it is classified as acute insomnia. However, when insomnia persists on a longer-term basis, it is referred to as chronic insomnia. In general, chronic insomnia is defined as insomnia that lasts for three or more nights a week for more than one month. Insomnia results from different causes. Factors that may prevent us from falling asleep, or that may interfere with our staying asleep, include: - stress (job loss or change, moving)
- illness
- depression/anxiety
- bad sleeping habits (too much caffeine (that after-dinner cappuccino), afternoon nap)
- environmental factors (noise, light, extreme temperatures) that interfere with sleep
- things that throw off a normal sleep schedule (jet lag, travel, shift work)
- medications
Who? Insomnia is not related to the number of hours of sleep a person gets or how long it takes to fall asleep. Each of us has different sleep needs and restful times. Insomnia affects 20-40% of adults each year. Insomnia can be temporary or long-term. How many people have insomnia? More than you might think. There have been reports of 80% of the population experiencing insomnia during the course of a single year. This number includes people who experience the occasional sleepless night as well as long-term sufferers. Chronic insomnia, that is someone who regularly has difficulty sleeping, affects somewhere around 10-15% of the population. How treated? Sometimes underlying medical conditions can cause insomnia or interfere with getting a refreshing sleep. These conditions include: - pain conditions such as migraines, muscle pain and fatigue, backaches, and arthritis
- sleep disorders (sleep apnea)
- discomfort during pregnancy
- hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or menopause
Occasional or temporary insomnia, that lasts only a few days at a time, may not require treatment. Short-term insomnia can be treated by changing your sleeping habits (see sleep tips) and the possible addition of a non-prescription short-acting sleep aid to improve sleep and daytime alertness or function. The rapid-onset, short-acting, non-prescription sleeping aids available today have fewer continuing effects like feeling drowsy the next day. Longer periods of insomnia should be treated by a physician and may be due to an underlying medical or health issue. Your physician will work with you to treat the medical or health problem and may recommend changes to certain behaviours and sleeping habits, changing the time you take certain medications, and medication to help you sleep. Even after the underlying condition is corrected, the insomnia can continue. Be sure to work with your physician to treat the insomnia as well as the original condition. If you are consistently experiencing daytime sleepiness, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. They may be able to help relieve some of the causes of your sleeping problems. [top of page] |
What are other sleep disorders? |
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is quite common and can be life threatening. Symptoms include brief interruptions in breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea is almost always accompanied by snoring between pauses in breathing, snoring also occurs in people without apnea. This condition is often observed by the bed partner and not the affected person. The interruptions of the deep restorative sleep can lead to excessive daytime sleepiness and early morning headache. Treatments include physical aids (to maintain an open airway during sleep), surgery, and lifestyle modifications. Narcolepsy
Narcolespy is excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness, even after having an adequate nighttime sleep. The affected person tends to be drowsy or fall asleep during the day, often at inappropriate times and places. There is no cure for narcolespy, but there are therapies to treat the symptoms and to help effectively control the disorder. Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome is when a person experiences unpleasant sensations in the legs (usually the calf area), often described as creeping, crawling, tingling, pulling or pain. Either one or both legs can be affected and can be felt in the arms in some people. The sensations occur when sitting for longer periods of time or lying down and instills an irresistible urge to move the legs when the sensations occur. Moving the legs, walking, rubbing, massaging or doing knee bends can bring relief, at least briefly. The urge to move the legs can interfere with an individual's ability to fall asleep. A related sleep disorder called periodic limb movements in sleep involves involuntary jerking or bending leg movements during sleep that happen every 10 to 60 seconds. These movements can wake the individual, disturb their sleep and awaken their bed partners. Night Terrors and Nightmares
Nightmares are vivid and disturbing dreams, common in children during dream sleep and usually result in immediate wakening and a good memory of the dream. Night terrors, however, are often described as extreme nightmares, again, occurring most often during childhood. However, they differ from nightmares as they occur in non-REM sleep. Again, the individual will awaken with agitation, large pupils, sweating, and increased blood pressure, but does not remember the terrifying events. The child appears terrified, screams, and is inconsolable for several minutes before relaxing and returning to sleep. Similar to night terrors in children, dream sleep behaviours are common in adults. They may include complex and even violent behaviours resulting in sleep disruption, injuries to themselves or to bed partners, or unpleasant and vivid dreams. [top of page] |