The Role of Sleep in Health

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The Role of Sleep in Health

Sleep is such a vital component of our overall health and sanity. It plays an essential role in the maintenance of both physical and mental health, sleep is as vital as eating a balanced diet and regular exercise. Sleep plays a major role in keeping the mind in check. It is during sleep that our mind realigns and monitors the body as we will see later.

Do you know the different phases of sleep? I’m sure you can keep up.

Phases of sleep

Sleep is another simple process that just had to be complicated, just like many others, if it were up to me, I'd let sleep just be sleep. However, some of us don’t like simple. For their sake, let’s expound it. Sleep is broken down into a number of phases.

1. Non-rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Stage. This is divided into three:

1. NREM stage 1 (N1): Transition from wakefulness to sleep. It is characterized by very light sleep, and it’s very easy to wake up when at this stage, however, it lasts only a few minutes.

1. NREM stage 2 (N2): It is slightly deeper and characterized by a reduction in heart rate and blood pressure, the body temperature also drops a bit. The body gets ready for deeper sleep. This stage takes up quite a significant portion of a night’s sleep.

1. NREM stage 3 (N3): This is the phase of deep sleep. At this stage, it proves very hard to wake someone up. This deep state of sleep is important to allow for physical repair and rejuvenation, growth, immune function, and build-up of energy for the forthcoming day.

1. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage: This is a phase just before one wakes up, it is during this phase that dreams occur. There is a temporary paralysis of voluntary function to prevent acting out of dreams. That’s why you cannot seem to run fast enough in your dreams, pretty frustrating, huh!

How much sleep do we need?

Now that we have learned the various stages of sleep, how long should we sleep to maintain good health? This varies based on the individual’s age and other factors. Age, as the primary universal parameter used, shall also be employed here just as quoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

So, how does sleep relate to other health segments and sectors?  

Physical Health

Role of sleep in healing and repair. During sleep, our bodies are busy with the functions that do not require our consent, the autonomous functions that occur during the different phases of sleep. The body works to support healthy brain activity and function. In children and teenagers, it is during sleep that growth and development take place.

Role of sleep on the heart and blood vessels. Among the things we shall discuss next is how the body lowers blood pressure during sleep. High blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke can sometimes, if not most of the time, be traced back to lack of enough sleep. It is during sleep that our hearts and blood vessels undergo repair from the day’s work. It is hereby imperative that we sleep

Balance and coordination. Our brains are more or less like computers. Once you have used a computer for quite a lot of time, it tends to lag, and based on the ability of the computer, it would take different amounts of time to get back into action. How do we get it back on track? Shut it down or let it sleep for a while, right? Without adequate sleep, one is most likely to be less coordinated and more accident-prone. Good sleep means that your brain has had enough rest, it has refreshed and upon restart, it is ready to carry on to the next day at its full capacity and ability. Boosted concentration, performance, productivity, and of utmost vitality, safety.

Mental Health

Sleep and mood. I think this is among the easiest things to understand. If you are sleep-deprived, you’ll be one moody individual that no one would be comfortable around. Actually, did you know that chronic insomnia increases the risk of developing mood disorders such as anxiety and depression? Both of which are mental health disorders. Lack of sleep will make you very irritable and stressed.

Cognitive function. This is interestingly good. Did you know that it is during sleep that our brains learn and create memories? When we sleep the brain like all the major organs is very busy creating pathways that help you learn and recall information. Sleep will boost learning and memory as well as enhance your problem-solving skills and creativity.

Sleep Deficiency

Sleep deficiency can be to different levels and it has different characteristics and severity. Let me mention just a few examples of sleep deficiency disorders.

1. Insomnia. This is the most common sleep deficiency disorder. It’s characterized by difficulty falling asleep or not staying asleep throughout the night. It is termed chronic if diagnosed after one has had such symptoms at least thrice a week for a minimum of three months. 

1. Sleep apnea. This is a sleep-related condition that causes a person to have multiple pauses in breathing (about 10 seconds) or a few episodes of shallow breathing while asleep. It can be obstructive or central.

1. Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnea. It’s more of a respiratory condition than a sleep disorder but is included in sleep disorders because it is characterized by shortness of breath that comes on suddenly and causes the person to wake up gasping and panicked due to fear of imminent death. It occurs one to two hours after one falls asleep. It is however manageable and one can fully recover.

1. Restless legs syndrome. This is a type of sleep movement disorder in which a person feels the urge to move their legs while asleep.

1. Narcolepsy. It’s a medical condition that is characterized by extreme sleepiness during the day and falling asleep suddenly during the day.

1. Parasomnias. Physical actions verbal expressions that happen during sleep. Some of the actions like talking or walking.

Prolonged sleep deficiency is linked to various diseases, some of which would never be suspected to have a sleep-related etiology. Some of these include: heart diseases, kidney diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and altered immune functions e.g., defective activity of the Natural Killer cells, these are antigen-presenting immune cells, termed APCs, that are vital in igniting defense against an attack.

Conclusion

To wrap it up, good sleep is among the pillars of good health and well-being. If we equate our health to a storey building, we will figure out that our health will is made up of quite a number of pillars, all of which must be upright and rigid. Just to quote a few: emotional pillar, mental pillar, physical pillar, social pillar, economic pillar among many others. Leave a comment on any other pillar you can think of…

Sleep offers our body ample time to heal, rejuvenate, and prepare for the next session. Keeping in mind how important sleep is, is not enough, we need to do the actual sleeping. The ultimate goal of these things we do in life is to achieve good health and boost our quality of life. So, let’s get to it.

Remember, everyone needs sleep in different amounts, it is up to you to understand your body’s needs and adjust accordingly. Ensure you’re getting enough sleep. You’ll marvel at how much of this content you will have retained when you wake up.

Have a lovely and peaceful sleeping session 😊