Adequate sleep is crucial to our physical and mental health. How we feel and perform when awake is immensely affected by how much and how well we sleep.
Although you may appear passive while sleeping, your body is working to support your brain function and vital physiological processes. Getting insufficient sleep can eventually raise your risk for chronic health problems.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of American adults report not getting adequate sleep each day. It is not a stretch to associate long-term sleep deprivation with the current epidemic of diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health issues. Sleep deprivation has also been a factor in major accidents like nuclear reactor meltdowns and vehicle crashes. Research finds getting enough quality sleep is critical to health, life quality, and public safety.
As important as the quantity of sleep is, the timing of sleep is also crucial. Circadian rhythms influence our sleep patterns and associated processes like hormone release.
What Are Circadian Rhythms
Circadian rhythms are “the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour cycle” (read more). Circadian rhythms affect important physiological processes including sleep. Most plants and animals have circadian rhythms.
In the human body, almost every organ has its own circadian rhythm. The master clock located in the brain synchronizes the circadian rhythms in the rest of the body. In the evening, the master clock causes the brain to produce more melatonin, resulting in drowsiness.
When the circadian rhythm is continually disturbed and there is long-term sleep deprivation, the result is an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, and cancer.
Stages of Sleep
There are four stages of sleep. These are broadly categorized into non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep
Non-REM sleep has three stages. Stage 1 NREM sleep, which you enter right after falling asleep, is the lightest sleep stage. It typically makes up about five percent of your sleep time and lasts just a few minutes.
After stage 1, you enter stage 2 NREM sleep. Stage 2 is deeper but still light sleep. It accounts for 45 percent of your sleep time and is the longest stage. During stage 2, your brain waves slow and your brain activity consists of long pauses punctuated by short, powerful bursts of electrical activity. During these bursts, your brain is believed to be organizing memories and information collected when you were awake.
Stage 3 NREM sleep is the deepest NREM stage, comprising about 25 percent of your total sleep time. In stage 3, your body is repairing injuries and strengthening your immune system. Your brain waves are slow but pronounced. There may be similar bursts of activity as in stage 2. Infants and children spend longer in stage 3 than adults.
REM Sleep
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is where most dreams occur. Your eyes are closed but may move quickly while you’re dreaming. Your brain activity is similar to that when you’re awake. There may be multiple cycles of REM sleep, which altogether make up about 25 percent of your sleep time. The first cycle lasts around 10 minutes. Each subsequent cycle is longer, sometimes lasting up to an hour.
After REM sleep, you may go back to stage 1 NREM sleep and start over again. There may be several cycles of NREM and REM sleep, with each cycle lasting 90 to 110 minutes. Later cycles may have longer periods of REM and shorter periods of NREM sleep.
Sleep Architecture
Sleep architecture is the structural makeup of normal sleep. Normal sleep consists of three stages of NREM sleep followed by REM sleep, alternating cyclically during the night.
Disruptions to a normal sleep architecture, which can be caused by sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or shift work, can create sleep deprivation. It can make you tired and weak during the day and have cognitive issues and other health problems.
Importance of Sleep
Quality of sleep has crucial functions in maintaining good health. Some of these are described below.
Tissue Repair
As mentioned earlier, during sleep, the body repairs damage and reinforces your immune system. Hormones released during sleep help with muscle repair and the growth of new tissue.
Immune Function
When you sleep, your body produces proteins called cytokines, which create an immune response to combat inflammation and infection. Long-term sleep deprivation is associated with a chronic inflammatory state and increased risk of heart disease, nervous disorders, and autoimmune conditions like arthritis.
Memory Consolidation
You may have heard the advice to “sleep on it.” When you’re learning new information, the best way to retain it is to sleep. Sleeping helps reinforce memories you formed and connect new memories to previous ones. It also promotes creativity.
Improved Cognitive Function
Adequate sleep is essential to proper brain functioning. Being short on sleep by even a few hours can degrade attention, reasoning, decision-making, learning, and memory. Conversely, getting enough sleep improves memory processing, problem-solving, creativity, and judgment.
Mood Regulation
Sleep is crucial to our ability to handle the emotional stresses of life. Studies find sleep deprivation to be associated with negative emotions like anger, frustration, irritability, and sadness. Chronic inability to sleep may be a symptom of anxiety and depression.
Chronic sleep deprivation or poor-quality sleep is linked to an increased risk of:
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular disease
• Stroke
• Kidney disease
• Mental health disorders like depression
What Influences Our Sleep Patterns
Many factors affect our sleeping patterns and how much sleep we need. Some of these are listed below.
• Genetics: circadian rhythms are different for different people. Some people’s master clocks run in cycles longer or shorter than 24 hours. Genetic mutations are also correlated with the lengths of sleep and waking cycles.
• Age: infants and children typically need more sleep than adults.
• Hormonal balance: sleep and hormones are intimately related. Hormonal insomnia can occur when our hormone levels change, such as during pregnancy or menopause. Fill out the form below to find out how to increase sleeping hormones by visiting hghtherapydoc.com.
• Lifestyle: your activities in the hours leading up to bedtime, such as smoking and drinking alcohol, can decrease how much sleep you get. Conversely, regular physical exercise can improve the quality of sleep.
• Environmental factors: not surprisingly, people sleep better when their bedroom is comfortable and has just the right temperature, noise, and lighting.
• Caffeine consumption: studies find consuming caffeine even six hours before bedtime can significantly disrupt sleep patterns. The result is that we feel tired the next day and need more caffeine.
• Screen time before bed: two or more hours of screen time in the evening can interfere with the flow of melatonin that’s needed to fall asleep. So, avoid watching screens in the hour before bedtime.
• Irregular sleep schedules: when shift work or jet lag changes your sleep schedule, that can cause nighttime insomnia and daytime drowsiness.
Conclusion
You need an adequate amount of quality sleep each night for physical and mental health. Follow your body’s natural circadian rhythm and engage in activities that promote good sleep to enjoy the benefits of a proper night’s rest.
Last Updated: April 23, 2024
