When you think about it, we as humans were not made to have electric lights. Our physiology is based on the sun. In the past, cavemen had the luxury of the sun going down at a predictable time each night to have it come up at a predictable time in the morning. But now we have light at the click of a button, the flip of a switch or it radiating through our windows from the office buildings near by. It really messes with us and it is a big problem when it comes to our happiness.
Currently in the US a third of our population gets insignificant amounts of sleep (CDC, 2016).
While there are a hundred plus different sleep disorders influencing our sleep deprived society, the most common type is insomnia and adds up to about 10% of the adult population (National Sleep Foundation, 2017). You may know it as a trouble initiating sleep or maintaining sleep. The second most common sleep disorder is sleep apnea in which about 22 million americans suffer from in the US. This disorder is highly correlated with obesity, as obesity can interfere with the way one breathes while they sleep resulting in broken sleep (Romero-Corral et al, 2010).
Despite the disorders taking up a majority of the percentage of sleep deprived people there is a whole other issue that exists. Sleep experts call this "sleep as a behavior." Basically, it's our society in general not getting enough sleep. It is not a sleep disorder but rather a learned behavior from the day to day Go society that we live in. Many people sacrifice sleep in order to meet the demands of productivity.
Currently in the US a third of our population gets insignificant amounts of sleep (CDC, 2016).
While there are a hundred plus different sleep disorders influencing our sleep deprived society, the most common type is insomnia and adds up to about 10% of the adult population (National Sleep Foundation, 2017). You may know it as a trouble initiating sleep or maintaining sleep. The second most common sleep disorder is sleep apnea in which about 22 million americans suffer from in the US. This disorder is highly correlated with obesity, as obesity can interfere with the way one breathes while they sleep resulting in broken sleep (Romero-Corral et al, 2010).
Despite the disorders taking up a majority of the percentage of sleep deprived people there is a whole other issue that exists. Sleep experts call this "sleep as a behavior." Basically, it's our society in general not getting enough sleep. It is not a sleep disorder but rather a learned behavior from the day to day Go society that we live in. Many people sacrifice sleep in order to meet the demands of productivity.
But does sleep even matter? Can't I just sleep when I am dead?
I'll let a sleep expert explain -
"Honestly, there is no one answer. Sleep impacts almost every part of our physiology. Mind, body, and spirit. Sleep is like a 20,000 mile tune-up on your car, except we need it everyday. When we go throughout our day we are assaulted with information, stressed out, we're making decisions , we are using our bodies and burning our fuel. So at night, sleep is that tune-up, it optimizes the way our body works. It's removing the sludge and resetting our neurotransmitters and so we can function the next day in the appropriate way. It takes all the memories of the day and decides which one's are important. Which ones can be forgotten. It takes the important one's and accentuates and activates those memories and then connects them to other fabrics in your brain." - Michael Smith on Curiosity Stream (2015).
When people sleep, their heart beat drops two to three beats per minute naturally (Smith, 2015). What that means is basically your heart gets a break from working so hard. In other words, for roughly 30% of your life your heart gets a vacation from scary movies, Starbucks, and Red Bulls. This helps preserve your body and helps to extend your life.
The Sleep Cycle
But to really understand healthy sleep habits, I think it is important to know what normal sleep is...
To break it down there are two phases of sleep: Non-REM and REM sleep. In non-REM sleep it is very sequential. When you close your eyes, you start to descend through the various levels. The back of your brain known as your occipital lobe starts to pulse at a particular rate. The sleep people call these "alpha rhythms." I like to think of them as opposite the old school AOL dial-up discs I used to get in the mail. Instead of the long, squeaky queues connecting you to the world, your body is disconnecting. Heh! America Offline. If your loud neighbor who thinks Fast and the Furious is still cool were to wake you up at this point by revving his crappy engine, you would say you never even fell asleep. Its a transitional stage where you mind begins to get loose-goosey.
*Swings pendulum* You are now getting more sleepy... Next is stage 2 non-REM sleep. This is where the magic happens. Your thalamus, which directs all the sensory signals of the sensory world, throws out sleep spindles. These block all incoming information so that your brain does not receive any more input. This allows your brain to oscillate in a very synchronized pattern, allowing it to rejuvenate (Smith, 2015).
At stage 3, you are basically in a coma. If you look at brain waves at this point is would look very similar in which you would witness very slow oscillating waves (Drummond, Smith, Chengazi, & Perlis, 2004). Trying to wake someone up at this point is the hardest.
Sleep goes in a very sequential pattern. Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 non-REM sleep and then in reverse stage 3, stage 2, stage 1 non-REM and then you hit your first REM period.
REM sleep is when you are psychotic. Not in a mental health kind of way but you are literally living in a fantasy world at this point. If you are ever a creep and stare at your sleeping spouse and it looks like they are the Exorcist with their eye rolled back and their pupils are bouncing back and forth then you know which stage they are in. This is the stage that we dream.
REM sleep is important to the whole matrix of who you are. During this stage your brain begins to connect new memories of the day with old memories already stored in your head. This whole process can be rather random and that is why dreams can be so bizarre.
What a lot of people may not realize is when you sleep you are not being dropped into a box of unconsciousness, your brain is doing some pretty orchestrated things.
That cycle of 1, 2, 3, non-REM, 3, 2, 1, REM - is called a "sleep cycle." Typically one cycle takes about 90 minutes or so. You cycle through this pattern throughout the night. In a sleep cycle you get this slow wave deep sleep in the first third of the night and then your REM stage gets longer and longer as the night goes on. There are brief periods of wakening in stage 1 non-REM. Many people discuss having a horrible night sleep, such as waking up twice a night for 10 minutes or so but don't worry that is actually common. The problem is when someone is unable to get back to sleep once they wake up.
Currently the accepted standard is:
To break it down there are two phases of sleep: Non-REM and REM sleep. In non-REM sleep it is very sequential. When you close your eyes, you start to descend through the various levels. The back of your brain known as your occipital lobe starts to pulse at a particular rate. The sleep people call these "alpha rhythms." I like to think of them as opposite the old school AOL dial-up discs I used to get in the mail. Instead of the long, squeaky queues connecting you to the world, your body is disconnecting. Heh! America Offline. If your loud neighbor who thinks Fast and the Furious is still cool were to wake you up at this point by revving his crappy engine, you would say you never even fell asleep. Its a transitional stage where you mind begins to get loose-goosey.
*Swings pendulum* You are now getting more sleepy... Next is stage 2 non-REM sleep. This is where the magic happens. Your thalamus, which directs all the sensory signals of the sensory world, throws out sleep spindles. These block all incoming information so that your brain does not receive any more input. This allows your brain to oscillate in a very synchronized pattern, allowing it to rejuvenate (Smith, 2015).
At stage 3, you are basically in a coma. If you look at brain waves at this point is would look very similar in which you would witness very slow oscillating waves (Drummond, Smith, Chengazi, & Perlis, 2004). Trying to wake someone up at this point is the hardest.
Sleep goes in a very sequential pattern. Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 non-REM sleep and then in reverse stage 3, stage 2, stage 1 non-REM and then you hit your first REM period.
REM sleep is when you are psychotic. Not in a mental health kind of way but you are literally living in a fantasy world at this point. If you are ever a creep and stare at your sleeping spouse and it looks like they are the Exorcist with their eye rolled back and their pupils are bouncing back and forth then you know which stage they are in. This is the stage that we dream.
REM sleep is important to the whole matrix of who you are. During this stage your brain begins to connect new memories of the day with old memories already stored in your head. This whole process can be rather random and that is why dreams can be so bizarre.
What a lot of people may not realize is when you sleep you are not being dropped into a box of unconsciousness, your brain is doing some pretty orchestrated things.
That cycle of 1, 2, 3, non-REM, 3, 2, 1, REM - is called a "sleep cycle." Typically one cycle takes about 90 minutes or so. You cycle through this pattern throughout the night. In a sleep cycle you get this slow wave deep sleep in the first third of the night and then your REM stage gets longer and longer as the night goes on. There are brief periods of wakening in stage 1 non-REM. Many people discuss having a horrible night sleep, such as waking up twice a night for 10 minutes or so but don't worry that is actually common. The problem is when someone is unable to get back to sleep once they wake up.
Currently the accepted standard is:
Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5). Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours.
Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours.
Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep is a drive, much like hunger.
Researchers have done studies on sleep deprived people and what they found is that people's brains actually look pretty good unless they are doing a complex task. Drummond, Smith, Chengazi, & Perlis (2004) found that when doing a hard task the brain has to work twice as hard to get the same results. So while our brains are able to compensate for short periods of time, things can start to break down. One such way we start to break down is in our frontal lobes or the part of the brain that is vital in making important decisions (Drummond, Smith, Chengazi, & Perlis, 2004).
There are different patterns in which people are sleep deprived. One of which is people who are frequently interrupted throughout the night. You often see this with parents caring for small babies, who are waking up several times throughout the night or health care workers waking up in the middle of the night to do call. Many of us in our careers have this fragmented sleep pattern. So we have these paradigms or patterns that we create that actually mimic insomnia patterns (Drummond, Smith, Chengazi, & Perlis, 2004).
To study the effects of sleep deprivation on individuals researchers give individuals an 8 hour sleep schedule but every 20 minute block of time the staff will come in and wake the participant up and keep them up for a period of time. So, in total they would get about 4 hours of sleep but it is fragmented randomly throughout the night. They then compare that fragmented type of sleep pattern to another type of sleep deprivation such as someone who gets solid sleep but they just go to bed later in the night.
Some of the findings they found were that sleep fragmented individuals impaired their bodies natural pain regulatory system. This system inhibits pain when someone has it (Smith and Haythornthwaite, 2004). What they also found is that both types of sleep deprivation makes people grumpy, irritable, and sad (Stepanski, 2002). But the fragmented people lose the ability to generate pleasure (Gregory & Sadeh 2012). Therefore, not only are they sad, but they can't get themselves out of the slump.
They also did a study that looked at the blood of sleep deprived people in which they isolated the individual's white blood cells. These white blood cells were then stimulated to spew out an inflammatory response. What they found is that sleep deprived individuals white blood cells spew out more inflammation than non sleep deprived individuals white blood cells. This chronic inflammation can lead to muscle deterioration, increased frailty, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased pain (Akerman et al, 2012). This is one of the links between sleep deprivation and disease states.
Past research points to the relationship between sleep deprivation and wellness. When you take sleep deprived animals who are on a diet versus animals who are not on a diet. The sleep deprived animals who are on a diet actually packed on more fat and lost lean muscle mass than animals who were not on a diet (Everson, Bergmann, Rechtschaffen, 1989). While this has not been translated to humans, it does provide direction for further research into sleep deprivation and diet. Suggesting that many weight loss programs should incorporate sleep in their guidelines.
Furthermore, another study showed a relationship between sleep deprivation and higher risks of memory conditions like Alzheimer's in the elderly (Nedergaard, 2016). Because this research is relatively new the exact link as to why sleep deprived individuals have higher risks of developing a memory disease is still being looked into.
To study the effects of sleep deprivation on individuals researchers give individuals an 8 hour sleep schedule but every 20 minute block of time the staff will come in and wake the participant up and keep them up for a period of time. So, in total they would get about 4 hours of sleep but it is fragmented randomly throughout the night. They then compare that fragmented type of sleep pattern to another type of sleep deprivation such as someone who gets solid sleep but they just go to bed later in the night.
Some of the findings they found were that sleep fragmented individuals impaired their bodies natural pain regulatory system. This system inhibits pain when someone has it (Smith and Haythornthwaite, 2004). What they also found is that both types of sleep deprivation makes people grumpy, irritable, and sad (Stepanski, 2002). But the fragmented people lose the ability to generate pleasure (Gregory & Sadeh 2012). Therefore, not only are they sad, but they can't get themselves out of the slump.
They also did a study that looked at the blood of sleep deprived people in which they isolated the individual's white blood cells. These white blood cells were then stimulated to spew out an inflammatory response. What they found is that sleep deprived individuals white blood cells spew out more inflammation than non sleep deprived individuals white blood cells. This chronic inflammation can lead to muscle deterioration, increased frailty, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased pain (Akerman et al, 2012). This is one of the links between sleep deprivation and disease states.
Past research points to the relationship between sleep deprivation and wellness. When you take sleep deprived animals who are on a diet versus animals who are not on a diet. The sleep deprived animals who are on a diet actually packed on more fat and lost lean muscle mass than animals who were not on a diet (Everson, Bergmann, Rechtschaffen, 1989). While this has not been translated to humans, it does provide direction for further research into sleep deprivation and diet. Suggesting that many weight loss programs should incorporate sleep in their guidelines.
Furthermore, another study showed a relationship between sleep deprivation and higher risks of memory conditions like Alzheimer's in the elderly (Nedergaard, 2016). Because this research is relatively new the exact link as to why sleep deprived individuals have higher risks of developing a memory disease is still being looked into.
Falling asleep
"Mistake #1 is forcing yourself to fall asleep. Sleep is not something you can just will to happen. As soon as you try and will it to happen, you are headed down a pathway of insomnia. Sleep is more like a surfer in the sea. You have to paddle out, position yourself correctly, and wait for the wave to happen. If you catch it, wonderful. If you do not catch it there is another one coming." - Michael Smith on Curiosity Stream (2015).
Most people want to fall asleep at the same time each day and wake up at the same time each day but sleep may not work that way. Most surveys find that 33% of people have trouble falling asleep. According to experts one of the main contributors is that many people do not have wind-down ritual.
One thing that really drives sleep is our internal clock or the master clock in our hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Its a light sensitive cluster of cells that releases melatonin which regulates all the physiological functions of the brain (Smith, 2015).
We are plugged in 24/7. We are texting before bed and our bodies are not designed to just shut off like that. Light is what shuts off melatonin and so if you expose yourself to light right before bedtime, when melatonin is supposed to be secreting your sleep-wake mechanism, it can infer with your sleep. Studies show that people who are playing video games, texting... that kind of thing right before bed... it can interfere with your clock. Help your body know when it is supposed to be asleep by removing conic light before bed and stick to a wind-down ritual like taking a hot bath, reading, or drinking tea.
"Mistake #1 is forcing yourself to fall asleep. Sleep is not something you can just will to happen. As soon as you try and will it to happen, you are headed down a pathway of insomnia. Sleep is more like a surfer in the sea. You have to paddle out, position yourself correctly, and wait for the wave to happen. If you catch it, wonderful. If you do not catch it there is another one coming." - Michael Smith on Curiosity Stream (2015).
Most people want to fall asleep at the same time each day and wake up at the same time each day but sleep may not work that way. Most surveys find that 33% of people have trouble falling asleep. According to experts one of the main contributors is that many people do not have wind-down ritual.
One thing that really drives sleep is our internal clock or the master clock in our hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Its a light sensitive cluster of cells that releases melatonin which regulates all the physiological functions of the brain (Smith, 2015).
We are plugged in 24/7. We are texting before bed and our bodies are not designed to just shut off like that. Light is what shuts off melatonin and so if you expose yourself to light right before bedtime, when melatonin is supposed to be secreting your sleep-wake mechanism, it can infer with your sleep. Studies show that people who are playing video games, texting... that kind of thing right before bed... it can interfere with your clock. Help your body know when it is supposed to be asleep by removing conic light before bed and stick to a wind-down ritual like taking a hot bath, reading, or drinking tea.
Do yourself a favor
Thirty percent of the population are sleep deprived and our bodies are not designed to handle such conditions. We often think of making healthy changes to improve our lives such as quitting smoking, improving our diet, and abstaining from alcohol but improving sleep is often something that is overlooked.
Don't be a "I'll sleep when I am dead" type of person.
Try a little experiment:
Thirty percent of the population are sleep deprived and our bodies are not designed to handle such conditions. We often think of making healthy changes to improve our lives such as quitting smoking, improving our diet, and abstaining from alcohol but improving sleep is often something that is overlooked.
Don't be a "I'll sleep when I am dead" type of person.
Try a little experiment:
1. Give your body a wind down ritual for the next two weeks.
2. Allow yourself an additional 30 minutes of sleep per day.
3. Keep a diary of your mood and day-to-day interactions.
You may be surprised how much more you can accomplish in a day by simply sleeping more!
Sweet dreams.
Resources
Ackermann, K., Revell, V. L., Lao, O., Rombouts, E. J., Skene, D. J., & Kayser, M. (2012). Diurnal Rhythms in Blood Cell Populations and the Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation in Healthy Young Men. Sleep, 35(7), 933–940. http://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1954
Ackermann, K., Revell, V. L., Lao, O., Rombouts, E. J., Skene, D. J., & Kayser, M. (2012). Diurnal Rhythms in Blood Cell Populations and the Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation in Healthy Young Men. Sleep, 35(7), 933–940. http://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1954
CDC. (2016). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0215-enough-sleep.html
Curiosity Stream (2015). Sleepless society [Video]. Retrieved April 14, 2017, from https://app.curiositystream.com/video/805
Drummond, S. P., Smith, M. T., Chengazi, V. U., & Perlis, M. L. (2004). Functional imaging of the sleeping brain: Findings and implications for the study of insomnia. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 8(3), 227-42.
Everson, C. A., Bergmann, B. M., Rechtschaffen, A. (1989). Sleep deprivation in the rat: III. Total sleep deprivation. Sleep, 12(1), 13–21
NSF. (2017). What is insomnia? Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/content/what-is-insomnia
Nedergaard, M. (2016). The brain's waste-disposal system may be enlisted to treat Alzheimer's and other brain illnesses. Scientific American. Retrieved https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-s-waste-disposal-system-may-be-enlisted-to-treat-alzheimer-s-and-other-brain-illnesses/
Romero-Corral, A., Caples, S. M., Lopez-Jimenez, F., Somers, V. K. (2010). Interactions between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea: Implications for treatment. Chest, 137(3), Issue 3, 711–719
Gregory, A. M. & Sadeh, A. (2012). Sleep, emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 16, 129–136
Smith, M. T. and Haythornthwaite, J. A. (2004). The relationship between sleep disturbance and chronic pain: Insights from the longitudinal and cognitive-behavioral clinical trials literature.Sleep Medicine Reviews, 8(2), 119-32.
Stepanski, E. J. (2002). The Effect of Sleep Fragmentation on Daytime Function. SLEEP, 25 (3).
Curiosity Stream (2015). Sleepless society [Video]. Retrieved April 14, 2017, from https://app.curiositystream.com/video/805
Drummond, S. P., Smith, M. T., Chengazi, V. U., & Perlis, M. L. (2004). Functional imaging of the sleeping brain: Findings and implications for the study of insomnia. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 8(3), 227-42.
Everson, C. A., Bergmann, B. M., Rechtschaffen, A. (1989). Sleep deprivation in the rat: III. Total sleep deprivation. Sleep, 12(1), 13–21
NSF. (2017). What is insomnia? Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/content/what-is-insomnia
Nedergaard, M. (2016). The brain's waste-disposal system may be enlisted to treat Alzheimer's and other brain illnesses. Scientific American. Retrieved https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-s-waste-disposal-system-may-be-enlisted-to-treat-alzheimer-s-and-other-brain-illnesses/
Romero-Corral, A., Caples, S. M., Lopez-Jimenez, F., Somers, V. K. (2010). Interactions between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea: Implications for treatment. Chest, 137(3), Issue 3, 711–719
Gregory, A. M. & Sadeh, A. (2012). Sleep, emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 16, 129–136
Smith, M. T. and Haythornthwaite, J. A. (2004). The relationship between sleep disturbance and chronic pain: Insights from the longitudinal and cognitive-behavioral clinical trials literature.Sleep Medicine Reviews, 8(2), 119-32.
Stepanski, E. J. (2002). The Effect of Sleep Fragmentation on Daytime Function. SLEEP, 25 (3).
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