\t<\/p>\n
I consider myself to be an expert
\nsleepier. Even as a kid, I never argued when it was time for a nap or
\ntime to go to bed. In college, I managed to get more sleep than most
\nof my peers. I rarely pulled all-nighters and when I did, I made up
\nfor it the next day.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
The reason for this is simple: I need
\nit. I’m miserable if I didn’t get enough sleep. Everything feels like
\na huge effort. I can’t focus, I’m unproductive and am not very
\npleasant to be around. Caffeine doesn’t help. It just makes me feel like
\nmy heart’s going to pop out of my chest and I bounce off the walls
\nlike one of those bouncy balls you get from a machine at the food
\nstore. That feeling is just a different type of miserable.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Let’s start with what happens when we
\nsleep. There are five stages of sleep. The first is the transition
\nbetween being awake and falling asleep. It should last only about 5
\nor 10 minutes. There is a high amplitude of theta waves (slow brain waves) during this stage which relaxes you and
\nprepares you for the next stage. In the next 20 minute stage, the brain
\nshows signs of sleep spindles (which are very rapid brain waves).
\nBody temperature decreases and your heart rate drops. You then
\ntransition from light sleep to delta sleep (a more deep sleep). This
\nis only about 30 minutes. The fifth and final stage is where you
\nenter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Here is where you actually
\ndream, your breathing and brain activity increase and your muscles
\nrelax. It’s important to note that these stages work on a cycle and
\nare not necessarily in numerical order. So, REM sleep does not last
\nthe rest of the night. You get about an hour or so of that then
\ncircle back around to one of the other stages. Missing any stage,
\nespecially the fifth stage (REM sleep) will leave you feeling
\nunrested.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
So, why is this cycle so important?
\nSeems like such a waste of time doesn’t it? Adults are advised to
\nsleep seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Most people don’t
\nmanage to do this on a consistent basis. The national average is only 6.7
\nhours a night. This is down from 7 hours a few years ago. Why aren’t we getting enough sleep?
\nWell, there’s work, family, the Internet… whatever your reason, you
\nare likely doing yourself a disservice.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
There are also several
\ndisorders that prevent people from getting enough sleep no matter how
\nhard they try. Insomnia is probably the most common and well known.
\nYou either can’t fall asleep or may wake up frequently during the
\nnight. Now, the first problem is obvious but the second maybe not so
\nmuch. If you wake up frequently in the night you cannot get through
\nthe five stages of sleep that we just discussed which are all very important to feel well
\nrested.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
If you snore, the problem is the noise.
\nIt can wake you (and your sleeping partner) up multiple times in the
\nnight. Sleep apnea is a more serious sleep problem in which snoring
\nis a symptom. You will stop breathing for a short amount of time
\nwhile asleep which wakes you up. It may be a sign of more serious
\nconditions like high blood pressure and heart problems. If you
\nbelieve you have sleep apena seek medical help.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Narcolepsy is a disorder where you are
\ntired during the day almost all the time. This may be accompanied by
\nrandomly falling asleep during the day and many movies make it out as
\nif this is something that happens to all people who are narcoleptic.
\nThat is not the case. Most commonly it’s just that you feel excessively tired.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Restless legs syndrome may also keep
\nyou awake. It is the need to move your legs in the evenings which can
\nkeep you awake or wake you up in the middle of the night.\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
At some point in almost everyone’s
\nlife, they have experienced nightmares which cause them to lose sleep. They may wake you up leaving
\nyou feeling stressed and anxious and unable to get back to sleep whether you remember them or not.
\nThis happens during REM sleep (where you dream) and is most common in
\nchildren. In adults, medications, depression and other psychological disorders may cause nightmares.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Another common disorder, mostly found in
\nchildren, is sleepwalking. There are many forms of this but while
\nstill asleep you do activities that you aren’t aware you are doing.
\nMostly it’s walking around the house doing normal activities, but it
\ncan in rare cases be dangerous like someone leaving the
\nhouse, eating excessive amounts of food or participating in high risk
\nbehaviors.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Now let’s assume most people don’t have
\nany of these disorders and still people in the United States are
\ngetting less than the recommended amount of sleep. This is for some
\nof the reasons I listed above. The truth is while you may not feel
\nsleepy in reality you are. It’s sort of like people who are
\nstarving stop feeling hungry. When you are tired all the time, that
\nfeeling becomes normal. Your body adapts and gives you the illusion
\nof being one of those prized people who only needs four hours of
\nsleep a night. It’s simply just not good for anyone.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
So, why do we need sleep at all? That
\nquestion is still up for debate. The evolutionary theory is
\nthat we sleep at night in order to stay inactive. When inactive, you
\nare quiet which would make it harder for predators to find you. The
\nissue with this theory is when asleep, you are not aware of your
\nsurroundings. If you aren’t aware of your surroundings, you are
\nvulnerable to predators. Another part of this theory is that you
\nsleep to conserve energy. Those who sleep longer when food is scarce
\nwill have slower energy metabolisms and can last longer without
\neating. Plus, at night it’s harder for humans to search for food so
\nit’s a good time to conserve energy. Generally though, this theory is
\nnot given too much credence.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Studies have shown that if you \n<\/p>\n The final argument is the brain \n<\/p>\n Whatever the reason, sleep is I consider myself to be an expert sleepier. Even as a kid, I never argued when it was time for a nap or time to go to bed. In college, I managed to get more sleep than most of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[81,97,114,125,126],"class_list":["post-11714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-insomnia","tag-narcolepsy","tag-restless-leg-syndrome","tag-sleep","tag-sleepwalking"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
\ndeprive an animal of sleep, their immune systems start to fail and
\ndie in just a few weeks. Due to these findings, the restorative theory has gained
\nsome support. The restorative theory states that we sleep in order to
\nrestore and repair the body from all that has happened to it during
\nthe day. It may also be a chance to reduce the level of adenosine
\nfrom the brain. This is produced by the brains cells when awake and
\nwhen the brain becomes saturated with it, you feel tired. When you
\nsleep, the amount of adenosine is reduced in the brain making you
\nfeel less tired. This is why caffeine is so effective at keeping us awake for it is an adenosine antagonist. Meaning it interferes with adenosine levels in the brain making it less effective<\/span> at putting you to sleep.<\/p>\n
\nplasticity theory. The theory says that the brain is able to change
\nand reorganize as necessary while we sleep. We know that infants and
\nyoung children sleep 13 to 16 hours a day, most of this is REM sleep.
\nThis is the time period in a human’s life when we develop, so the
\nincreased need for sleep could have something to do with it. Further,
\nstudies have shown that when deprived of sleep, we are unable to
\nlearn to do things or perform tasks. This might also suggest that
\nsleep helps us process and solidify facts and tasks we are taught
\nwhile awake. Therefore without sleep we wouldn’t be as intelligent as
\nwe are.<\/p>\n
\nimportant. While it is hard to get those much needed hours, don’t
\nforget that your health is at risk. In fact you can last longer
\nwithout food than without sleep! Everyone makes such a great effort to
\nexercise, eat right and be successful. Sleep to most seems to be a
\nwaste of time. Those eight hours could be spent learning something,
\ndoing work or your favorite hobby. But that extra cup of coffee in
\nthe morning to help you make it through the day and make up for the
\nfact that you only had four hours of sleep, is not doing you a favor.
\nIn fact, it may be killing you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"