![]() ![]() Studies have shown that when healthy young adults are deprived of sleep for even one or two days they produce fewer natural killer cells. Constant tiredness can also cause irritability, memory loss, depression and stress and in the long term, the body’s defense systems may be affected. One of the immediate consequences of sleep deprivation is poor concentration and lack of judgment and people also tend to make poor decisions and frequent mistakes. Whatever sleep you lose one day, will be compensated for the following day. It simply makes you feel tired and slightly irritable. Losing a couple of hours sleep from time to time will not be damaging to your health. Albert Einstein is reputed to have slept for 12 hours at a stretch.” The French philosopher Voltaire is believed to have needed only three hours sleep a night and Britain’s Margaret Thatcher boasted of similar needs. Long sleepers are supposed to be worriers, who are less self-assured, non-conformist, mildly neurotic but also more creative and artistic. Short sleepers are characterized as hardworking extroverts, who are energetic, ambitious, and confident. ![]() “Personality is believed to play a part in determining sleep need. Jim Horne, a sleep specialist prefers quality over quantity and maintains that six hours is more than enough for good health and anything more than that is optional. About 16 percent sleep more than eight and a half hours and 16 percent sleep less than six and a half hours.ĭr. It is accepted that two thirds of the adult population sleeps for an average seven and a half hours a night. The high level of growth hormone released during NREM deep sleep is vital for physical health while the increased blood flow for the brain that occurs during REM sleep may be necessary for mental health. It is now accepted that we need both NREM and REM sleep for good health. These two types of sleep alternate throughout the night. Since the development of the electroencephalogram, scientists have been able to define the different stages of sleep that are mainly the REM (rapid eye movement) and the non-REM sleep. It is interesting to know that until the introduction of brain-monitoring we knew very little about the cycles of sleep. “Dreams may help to prevent repressed emotions such as anger, grief, and jealousy from manifesting as physical symptoms.” Psychosomatic illness, a physical illness with a psychological origin is the cause of many disorders such as blood pressure, headaches, and stomach ulcers. Psychologists believe that repressed emotional issues are dealt with while we sleep. An adequate amount of sleep can also help us resist infection. ![]() This is due to the effect of the immune system’s increased production of certain proteins in response to the infection. It is also believed that sleeping more during times of infectious illness helps one to recover more quickly. “Every tissue in the body from skin cells and blood cells to brain cells appears to be renewed faster during sleep than at any time while we are awake.” ![]() While we sleep, energy conservation, repair, and growth processes take over and our body starts to produce growth hormone and in adulthood, it enables the body to renew and repair itself. Most of us believe it is a natural response to fatigue but sleep is much more than that. Sleeping is as natural and essential as eating. The aim of ‘The Healing Power of Sleep: How to Achieve Restorative Sleep Naturally’ is to investigate sleep problems and their causes so we can achieve restorative sleep naturally. We spend around a third of our lives sleeping yet we do not really know why we need to sleep and how important it really is to our health. ![]()
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