Don't underestimate the importance of sleep Part 3

(MENAFN- Arab News) Last week I described to you our 24-hour daily cycle which regulates our biological clock. I also explained the two phases of sleep (the slow-wave sleep and REM sleep) and how each type impacts the body and brain. Slow-wave sleep which is the profound sleep occurs around midnight and lasts for about two hours. This type of deep sleep is critical for rebuilding the body from wear and tear; boosting the immune system; repairing cells neurons tissues bones muscles wounds and breaks; and does whatever else is needed for repair. This short sleep is vital for the regeneration and restoration of the body physiologically.
New-borns children adolescents athletes and active people require more of it than the average adult. Professional athletes and sportsmen need to sleep up to 12 hours a night to recover strength repair cells and muscles and restore energy.
It is important to note that older people sleep less and poorly. According to sleep researchers at Harvard Medical School 'As people age it takes longer to fall asleep a phenomenon called increased sleep latency. And sleep efficiency the percentage of time spent asleep while in bed decreases as well.' While adults require less hours and seniors even less and quality of sleep deteriorates as we age babies children and adolescents need more hours of sleep to assist in their growth process.
Our sleep cycles are triggered by darkness after sunset. Twilight makes us slow down and prepares us for night sleep which takes over after total darkness until dawn. With daybreak and morning light entering our eyes we wake up and our energy is aroused. Sunlight and darkness are instrumental in resetting our circadian rhythm.
God in His Holy Book the Holy Qur'an reminds us of the importance of sleep and rest and the 'harmfulness' of permanent daylight to us: Say: 'Have you ever considered [this]: If God had willed that there should always be daylight about you without break until the Day of Resurrection is there any deity other than God that could bring you [the darkness] of night wherein you might rest? Will you not see [the truth]?' (Chapter: 28; verse: 72).
That is why our bodies brains and wellbeing require us to respect the day/night cycle which regulates our sleep and makes our systems operate optimally. Now I would like to elaborate on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep.
REM sleep is part of our sleep where dreams occur and when the brain is brought to activity to sort out and organize (compartmentalize) whatever data collected during the previous day; discard unimportant information; strengthen memory; reinforce recent learning; and promote neural interconnection. It also bolsters learning and enhances the memory which help connecting events and incidents. REM sleep is where the brain becomes alive while you are fast asleep. REM sleep is shorter but occurs three to five cycles a night.
If slow-wave sleep is meant to repair the body rebuild the immune system and make killer cells then REM sleep makes the brain sort out information boost memory and reinforce learning. So one phase is to rebuild the body and the other is to reset the brain making them of utter importance for the recovery of both body and brain from the bombardments of free radicals stress and physical and mental demands of the previous day. In order to fulfill that repair experience we require sufficient hours of sound sleep and rest.
Today I shall discuss how much sleep our bodies and brains need to maintain good mental and physical health and wellbeing and how the body and brain respond to sleep deprivation. In the following articles I shall suggest ways to improve the quality of your sleep.
As a general rule sleep experts agree that most adults require as much as seven to eight and a half hours of sleep at night to keep the human body and brain functioning in top shape. However recent studies on sleep changed this conception and made sleep experts believe that seven to nine hours of sleep are optimal for mental and physical health and wellbeing.

Sleep researchers at University of Pennsylvania and Washington State University led an experiment on 48 healthy men and women who slept an average of seven to eight hours at night. The subjects were put in four groups. Group one was asked to stay up wide-awake day and night for three straight days. Group two was made to sleep four hours a night only. Group three were allowed only six hours at night and group four were left to sleep their usual eight hours every night. Groups two three and four continued with these experimental sleep patterns for two continuous weeks yet group one could not pursue the experiment. The subjects were also given physical and mental tests to follow up their physiological and psychological conditions and responses.
The results were pretty surprising considering the disparity in their sleeping hours and the amount of sleep each group had.
We will start with group four which had eight full hours of night sleep. They remained cognitively stable; this includes motor skills and concentration during the fortnight study.
On the other hand changes were seen in the other groups. Groups two and three who had four and six hours of sleep only per night showed daily deterioration with group two declining more. However group three's performance was not much better. The two significant conclusions were that sleep debt is caused cumulatively and that all the subjects were oblivious of their own mental and physical deterioration in their performances.
According to the scientists who conducted the study sleep deprivation 'has a neurobiological cost which accumulates over time.' A week later 25 percent of group three who only slept six hours were catching on sleep at odd hours of the day. Two weeks later the decline in performance in group two which had just four hours of sleep deteriorated significantly.
This means that getting just six hours or less of sleep per night for a fortnight straight can show deterioration in mental and physical responses which can be compared to staying fully awake for two consecutive days.
The second finding was that participants did not recognize the decline in their performances when they were asked to grade themselves. The deterioration in mental and physical responses continued to decline with every passing day during the experiment.
The other side of the sleep study results showed that we are incapable of making good judgment on how we perform when we lose sleep. On the job with brightly lit workplaces interactivity with colleagues caffeine intake and other factors we think we are fully alert and productive when are in reality under-performing.
Unfortunately even though we think we are doing well on less than the optimal hours of sleep studies indicate otherwise. Accepting sleep debt as normal and not recognizing our declining performance does not change the fact that we are actually underperforming and our mental sharpness is deteriorating.
Next week I shall continue the discussion on the side effects of sleep deprivation and sleep debt on mental psychological physical and physiological health and wellbeing.

References:
The Science of Good Sleep: There is a reason You're Always So Tired by James Clear in Wellness
N.B.:
Individuals with medical conditions or on medication should consult their physicians when they decide to introduce anything new in their diet even if it is natural.
The previous Health Solutions articles are located at www. arabnews.com

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