What our forefathers believed centuries back makes sense today- “ Early to bed and early to rise makes a man- healthy, wealthy and wise." In today’s hustling and bustling calendar, it is almost unworkable to follow this wise thinking, but if you want to have a physically and emotionally stable life and want to be in the pink of health when you reach old age, unquestionably you need at least seven to eight hours of uninterrupted quality sleep in a day. It’s interesting to learn that the sleep needs of respective individuals are dissimilar, so if one person’s sleep quota is completed in 6 hours, another individual may require ten hours, yes, you read it correctly ten hours. Some theories even suggest that women require more sleep than men.
WHAT IS KEEPING YOU AWAKE
Have you ever been puzzled why the new generation is tormented by so many chronic illnesses compared to our grandfather's and great grandfather’s generation? The answer may be traced to the deprivation of sleep, combined with increased stress along with other environmental factors. The main cause of sleeplessness can be attributed to smartphones and other modern gadgets. Before popping sleeping pills, try to find out the cause for your misery through self-evaluation and find solutions like yoga, meditation or other forms of relaxation like music or dance. Some people have medical conditions of insomnia and depression which needs to be treated with medicines.
WHY SLEEPING WELL IS IMPORTANT FOR KIDS
I have heard several parents complaining that their kids are not concentrating on their studies, they cannot remember anything even after hours of toil, they always appear tired and exhausted. I always advise these parents to see that the kids are getting proper sleep. It’s not only video games or smart phones which are stripping the valuable hours of sleep, often long hours of tuitions and training are the culprits of burdening the budding minds. If you do not want them to grow up into emotionally and physically drained individuals, please see that they get appropriate sleep.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE SLEEP DEPRIVED
You will be shocked to know that apart from depression, tiredness, mood swings and lack of concentration, sleep deprivation also leads to diabetes, heart and kidney problems, hair loss, early aging etc. There is a general perception that over- sleeping will lead to weight gain, but did you know that inadequacy of sleep can also lead to obesity. Hormone levels in the body are upset by sleep deficiency, which leads the mind to think that you are hungry, even when you are not and you keep eating and the result is obvious. Sleep deprivation can bring diabetes closer to you and it also shoots up the level of blood sugar in the diabetic patients. Sleeplessness can also indirectly cause sub fertility due to stress and depression.
SLEEP PATTERNS
Do not consider sleep as just a waste of time, your body is repairing and rejuvenating itself when you are under a deep slumber. The brain is not switched off during sleep, intriguingly brain activity is often accelerated in sleep. Sleep patterns can be broadly classified into two – REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non rapid eye movement) and in the span of a night’s sleep, the body keeps changing between these stages in a cyclical pattern. There are stages of light sleep and deep sleep. In REM sleep, you might be dreaming and the eyeballs will be moving, but the body will be motionless and muscles are relaxed. This may be a body mechanism to avoid you acting out in the dream. This is the stage when a person is most difficult to be awakened.
After a good night’s sleep, you wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy, on the contrary, if you miss couple of hours sleep you wake up like a zombie, drained and tired.
"Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast."
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast."
-William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Dr. Anita Mani
Infertility Specialist at Gift IVF Centre
Infertility Specialist at Gift IVF Centre
anitadane@gmail.com
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Dr. Anita Mani is a renowned infertility specialist in south India with 15 years experience in ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology). Dr. Anita has successfully set up ART hospitals in Cochin and Bangalore, along with her spouse Dr. S Mani. She completed MRCOG, from Royal College of Obstetrician and Gynaecologist London, DFFP from ART Warwick university and worked in the UK for 5 years. Dr. Anitha believes in scientific and ethical practice and is currently the director of Gift Gyno IVF centre Cochin and Bangalore. Apart from advanced laparoscopic surgeries, she is also an expert in various ART techniques including IVF, IUI, ICSI, donor egg/sperm. Her proficiency is in genetic abnormalities and high-risk pregnancies.
