Sleep and health – an affair to remember!
Up until the early 20th century scientists believed that the human body ‘dies’ while sleeping. All bodily functions just stop and the body goes into death mode till one is awake and everything restarts. Sleep has been a fascinating topic for psychiatrists, scientists and medical experts worldwide for the longest time. Ever since the evolution of medical science there has been extensive research on sleep, its causes, effects and how it impacts the human mind, body and soul. The earliest findings suggested that sleep halts every activity but it has been discarded since then. In fact, the most important processes take place during sleep that are critical for healthy functioning of the body. So much so that certain processes take place only when we sleep! By maintaining a proper routine for sleep many illnesses can be cured. According to sleep experts’ certain mental health problems can also be solved by getting the right amount and quality of sleep. So, sleep we must!
What happens when we sleep?
To understand all that takes place when we sleep, we must delve deeper into the phenomenon of sleep! When we sleep our bodies undergo a chain of processes that are vital for our overall health and well-being. The human body is slowed down during sleeping, and various processes of cellular rejuvenation takes place that energizes and refreshes us. All the information we are bombarded with throughout the day is processed, edited, saved, filtered and deleted respectively. Memory consolidation occurs whereby important information is stored carefully, engaging the brain to remember and store data carefully so it doesn’t slip off of our minds. At the same time our bodies are energized for enhanced performance and general well-being for the next day. Loss of sleep, even if it is just one day leads to foul mood, low energy levels, increased stress levels and poor levels of concentration. That’s why sleep in possibly the most important bodily function one must never skimp on! Babies and children need 12-14 hours of sleep a day, whereas teens and adults need at least 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep to stay healthy.
The devil is in the details!
Did you think that falling asleep means the body just stops everything? Not at all! As a matter of fact, it’s quite the contrary. As soon as we fall asleep thousands of neurons are fired from the brain to all parts of the body to get into action! Some of the most important processes take place at this time, and “while the biological role of sleep still isn’t fully understood, research demonstrates that it reinforces the cardiovascular and immune systems and helps regulate metabolism. What happens during sleep can be seen in notable changes in core bodily processes”.
- Activities in the brain– Research suggests that the brain waves change throughout the time an individual is sleeping. It switches from three different stages of sleep during which brain activities are taking place rapidly or slowly. During sleeping the brain shifts from REM to non-REM stage depending on the depth of the sleep pattern. Towards the beginning of non-REM sleep brain activities slow down while during REM it gains speed and everything switches to a much faster pace. And in this stage a plethora of activities take place. REM sleep enables cognitive function of the brain which means all kinds of memory building and storage takes place at this stage.
- Regulation of hormones– when we sleep the circadian rhythm of our bodies release certain chemicals that pretty much keep us afloat! Essential hormones such as cortisol is released which regulates stress, melatonin promotes sleep and leptin and ghrelin which controls appetite among others.
- Heart rate- Another important function is the heart rate which is balanced during sleeping. Towards the beginning of the sleep at stage 1 heart rate slows down completely while at stage 3 it picks up and is accelerated. Restful sleep is essential for maintaining proper heart rate.
- Breathing- Almost similar to heart rate breathing also becomes slow during the stages 1 and 2 while it picks up again and becomes fast at stage 3.
- Muscle tone- As we sleep our muscles relax gradually and reach a state of temporary paralysis. This happens to ensure we don’t flail our limbs and extremities in response to dream content and end up injuring or cramping ourselves! Known as Atonia this condition is again vital to keep things going smoothly.
- Dreaming- And dream we must! Unless one is prone to day-dreaming we all dream when we sleep, naturally! While dreams can happen at any stage it mostly during REM stage; they tend to be vivid and colorful and we tend to recollect the most. Another interesting fact- dreams seen at different stages of sleep has distinctive patterns. For instance dreams during non-REM stage tend to be realistic, slow, boring even. The REM stage is a different story; the brain goes to town at this time with wild, crazy dreams merging real-life experiences with fanciful thoughts. This the time you see yourself carried around by unicorns into the pink sunset!
Each of the abovementioned processes are key to healthy functioning of our brain and in turn our bodies. While skimping on sleep once in a while is inevitable, it must not continue for longer than two days. Modern day physicians stress on the importance of sleep as being highly conducive to promoting good health, and in some countries, resources are being dedicated to ensure citizens sleep properly. Certain critical bodily functions take place only when we are sleeping and they are essential for our well-being, so do not skimp on your precious forty winks by any means!
SOURCE-
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/what-happens-when-you-sleep
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