Understanding Sleep: A remedy in preventing Major illnesses

By Dr. Rohan Gupta,
Doctor of pharmacy, B.pharm.

Healthy sleep is essential for physical and mental health. Sleep is as important as eating healthy and exercising. In the current era value of sleep is underestimated. To understand the value of sleep we all should be aware of what is sleep? How sleep helps in preventing major illnesses? How to identify we are sleep deprived? What measures should be taken to get a good night’s sleep? 

Sleep is a state of rest in which your eyes are closed, your body is inactive, your mind does not think and where the quality and quantity of sleep are well maintained. Quality and Quantity of sleep is a remedy in preventing Major illnesses. you may think what does the quality and quantity of sleep means than you are at the right place to understand it. Sleep quality refers to how well you sleep. For adults, good quality sleep means that you typically fall asleep in 15-20 minutes or less, sleep soundly through the night with no more than one awakening and drift back to sleep within 20 minutes if you do wake up. Sleep quantity varies with age. On average, children and adolescent need more than 10 hours of sleep and most healthy adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep. 

Science of Sleep:

To understand sleep and wakefulness you must have some knowledge about neurobiology of sleep. States of sleep and wakefulness are generated by the complex interaction between many endogenous chemicals acting at multiple sites within the brain. These endogenous chemicals regulating sleep and wakefuln16ess are norepinephrine, melatonin, serotonin, acetylcholine, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, histamine, adenosine, and orexin. Where adenosine, serotonin, norepinephrine, histamine, dopamine, and orexin are responsible for promoting wakefulness and other endogenous chemical melatonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid are responsible for regulating sleep. Acetylcholine is important for initiating sleep and glutamate for initiating and maintaining sleep.

       Do you know an interesting fact? There is no single endogenous chemical, no single brain region, no single receptor that is responsible for generating complex states of sleep and wakefulness. Its an interaction between many systems

Sleep in preventing major illnesses:

Nowadays people sleep-less which decreases the quality and quantity of sleep. Many studies have shown that lack of sleep disrupts neurobiology of sleep and wakefulness that increases the risk of various medical conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, decreased immunity, inflammation, and depression which further reduces concentration and productivity of work. All these things have a major impact on reducing the quality of life. Thus, a good night’s sleep is a remedy for preventing the majority of illnesses.

Now here arises a question of how to identify that you are suffering from sleep difficulty? Observe yourself for the symptoms of sleep deprivation like frequent sleep disturbance, day time sleepiness, Yawning, Fatigue, Irritability, Depressed mood, Forgetfulness, Inability to concentrate. Sleep deprivation can also be assessed in a personalized way by using the Epworth sleepiness subjective scale given below.  

Epworth sleepiness scale for evaluating sleep difficulties:

It is a short questionnaire that says, “How likely are you to doze off or fall asleep in following situations”. The possible Responses are answered in score given as follow,

0 = would never doze

1 = slight chance of dozing

2 = moderate chance of dozing

3 = high chance of dozing

 Now, go through each of eight questions and rate yourself from 0 to 3 respectively.

Interpretation:

“The Epworth Sleepiness scale is an established test used worldwide by the sleep professionals to measure sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness”.

Measures to get good night sleep:

Many studies have suggested that sleep problems can be avoided with the use of good sleep habits, called sleep hygiene.

• Try to identify the problem which is triggering your sleep and divert your mind from it by meditation, listening to sleep music, etc.
• Stay active, regular exercise or yoga is a good idea to help with good sleep, but try not to do heavy exercises 4 hours before bed.
• Having a hot bath 1-2 hours before bedtime can be useful, as it will raise your body temperature, causing you to feel sleepy. Research shows that sleepiness is associated with a drop in body temperature.
• It is best to avoid taking large naps (>20 min) during the day, to make sure that you are tired during bedtime.
• Try to maintain a consistent sleep pattern 7 days a week. Sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. 
• Stop watching clocks, laptops, mobile or any blue light while sleeping.
• Keep your bedroom dark and cool and try to use it only for sleep
• Make sure the bedroom is dark and quiet. Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask. Use earplug to mask external noise. 
• Avoid chemicals that disrupt sleep, such as nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol.
• Try to eat a balanced diet. Avoid heavy, fatty, fried or spicy food late in the evening if you have indigestion. Bananas, yogurt or healthy cereals are good bedtime snacks.
• Get out of bed if you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes or more. Do something calming like meditation than return to bed again. Avoid doing anything too stimulating or interesting as this will wake you up even more.

   In the end, we can conclude that night of healthy sleep can heal most of the problems and is a remedy in preventing Major illnesses associated with our health. We have the solution to every problem. Here, the solution is with us. 

Also, read our article on The Impact of Quarantine on Health and Steps to Reduce it.

https://ahealthybeat.com/2020/03/23/quarantine-and-health/