Sleep

Sleep is a basic need of most living beings. The number of hours varies from species to species. When we focus on the importance of sleep, the main factor taken into account is sleep duration which is not the only essential factor, sleep quality matters just as much. It’s important to ensure that sleep is uninterrupted so that our bodies can benefit from different stages of sleep. Sleep plays a vital role in promoting well being and good health throughout one’s life.

Importance and Benefits of sleep:

Getting adequate sleep improves physical health as we don’t feel tired the whole day and we get sick less often
It improves our mental health as it helps our mind relax which in turn helps us to think clearer
Good sleep boost up our immune system
Not getting proper sleep can cause various heart-related problems such as heart attacks and high blood pressure as lack of sleep forces the body to release a stress hormone- cortisol that triggers our heart into working more, thus good sleep is essential for a healthy heart
Irregular sleeping pattern leads to late-night snacking which is a major factor for weight gain so maintaining your sleep pattern can also help in controlling those late-night cravings
If one sleeps well, they’ll wake up in a good mood and will put their surrounding in a good mood too
Proper sleep helps in increasing productivity as restless nights leave us feeling frazzled and hampers our productivity
Lack of sleep can be dangerous at times. According to a study conducted by AAA Foundation for Traffic society, when you are having six to seven hours of sleep as compared to recommended eight hours of sleep, you are twice as likely to get in a car accident and this probability keeps increasing with less number of sleeping hours

Stages of sleep

Sleep is not a steady state but it varies throughout the night. Our body undergoes cycles of sleep and every cycle has a similar pattern. Each stage has its designated function to maintain the optimum performance of our brain. There are two main stages of sleep – REM and NREM and our sleep fluctuates between the two. These two stages do have their subcategories so there are a total of four stages of sleep although earlier there were five stages, it was changed in 2007 by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

NREM sleep: It stands for Non- Rapid Eye Movement sleep also known as quiet sleep

Three stages that follow under NREM sleep are:

N1- This is the first stage in which one has just closed the eyes and is very easy to wake up. This stage lies for a short period of time – about 5 to 10 minutes
N2- This stage lies for much longer, approximately 30-60 minutes. Here one’s muscles start to relax and the body is getting prepared for deep sleep
N3- This is the most important stage as we are in a deep sleep here and it’s very hard to rise from this stage. Here deep slow waves begin to emerge known as delta waves and the body starts its physical repairs. This lasts for an average of 20-20 minutes. This stage is also called delta sleep.

REM sleep: It stands for Rapid eye movement sleep. In this stage, the brain is aware of the mental activities and voluntary muscles are immobilized.

REM sleep is observed to be most essential for cognitive development. It is normal to have short sleep episodes during this stage known as apnea

The sequence of these stages:

It’s important to know that the sleep does not progress in the given sequence all the time and may have some alterations in-between days

Sleep starts with NREM 1 stage
NREM 1 stage gets converted into NREM 2 stage
NREM 2 is then followed by NREM 3 stage
Here, NREM 2 stage is again repeated
Finally, the body goes into the REM stage

Sleep is regarded as a complex process by many as it is hard to exactly determine the number of hours one’s going to sleep and how fast they can fall asleep. Although, it is that complex, there are certain factors that contribute to longer and quality sleep.

These factors are:

Tiredness: It depends on the number of hours they are awake, the number of hours they undergo physical exercise or labour and the amount of naps taken by them during those hours.
Bedtime: One’s bedtime surely weighs in a lot to determine the quality of sleep. It is generally recommended to have a specific bedtime and to abide by it, because our body gets accustomed to that time and we don’t fall asleep by that hour, our body may feel extra worked up.
Average hours awake: The average number of hours one remains awake in a day is also an important factor for one’s better sleep. Normally, am adult remain awake for about 16 hours.
Comfort: Comfort plays an essential role in your sleep cycle and its quality. It depends on the mattress, pillow, and bedding. More comfortable environment is known to provide better quality sleep.
Sound: It may seem bizarre but yes, sound is also a factor which contribute to one’s goodnight sleep. The type of sounds that helps one to calm down and fall asleep should be taken into account here. All the sounds are considered except soothing sounds or white noise.
Light: Some people cannot fall asleep in pitch dark room and some people cannot fall asleep until and unless its dark, thus light surely is a factor responsible for one’s better sleep. All kinds of lights are taken into consideration here, LED bulbs, illuminated clocks and even natural light.
Heat: Heat is also found responsible for triggering sleep into an individual. One will aways find it easier to fall asleep in warm environment during cold weather and vice-versa. But this factor includes the heat in the surroundings only not the bedding.
Duvet appropriatness: A good quality duvet helps us maintain our comfortable body temperature even if the surroundings are a bit too cold or too warm. If the duvet is very breathable, it can also prevent moisture from accumulating.

Tips for better sleep:

Make a sleep schedule as necessary and try to stick to it. Try to go to sleep and try to wake up at the same time every day.
If you wish to wake up around 6 a.m. then these are the suggested bedtimes:
- kids: around 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
- Teens: around 8:00 p.m.
- Adults: around 9:00 to 10:30 p.m.
An ideal scenario would be to wake up as the sun rises.
Focus on your eating habits. Nutrition and hydration play an important role in determining the quality of sleep, thus it is suggested to not go to sleep too stuffed or hungry and hydrate well.
Your sleeping environment i.e your room should be calm and should help you relax your body and mind to fall asleep smoothly
Although a lot of us love some afternoon naps, especially after lunch, it’s important to not take a nap of more than 30 minutes a day.
Regular exercise is suggested for better sleep. It doesn’t need to be a hardcore workout routine but any kind of physical activity to get that adrenaline rush into your body which will later promote a good sleep cycle.
Try to deal with stress issues and worries before bedtime as they can seriously hamper your sleep. Meditation is a recommended activity to calm your mind.
Eat an interesting breakfast so that you are looking forward to it and waking up for that doesn’t seem like a task and try to have a protein-rich breakfast

Sleep hour distribution for various age groups:

The recommended hours of sleep for different age groups are:

Newborn: (0-3 months) – 14-17 hours
Infants ( 4-10 months)- 12-15 hours
Toddlers (1-2 years)- 11-14 hours
Preschoolers (3-5 years)- 10-13 hours
Children (6-13 years) – 9-11 hours
Teenagers (14-17 years)- 8-10 hours
Young adults (18-25 years)- 7-9 hours
Adults (26-64 years)- 7-9hours
Older Adults (65 years and older)- 7-8 hours

As you can see, the required hours of sleep decreases as we get older. This is because time in each sleep stage changes dramatically over the life of a person. Newborns can enter the REM stage as soon as they fall asleep and thus spend most of their sleeping time in REM sleep. By the time they are 5, they start to develop the standard sleep architecture. And as we grow older, the time in our REM sleep starts reducing and thus our sleeping time also reduces.