Experts say sleep is vital to our well-being
Patricia Corrigan / St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (KRT)
ST. LOUIS - Sleeping five or six hours a night-and bragging
about it?
You may think you're getting away with something, but
your body knows better. Most people require at least eight
hours of sleep each night for optimum functioning. If
you're routinely staying up late to go online or out
dancing, your body is paying a high price.
People in the sleep disturbance business say "chronic
under-sleeping" increases the risk of accidents, may
suppress immune function and could lead to heart disease,
diabetes or other dangerous health conditions. All of that is
in addition to less serious repercussions, such as decreasing
your productivity, making you irritable and causing you to
doze off at the weekly staff meeting.
You say you can live with that? Think again.
"We know that if we deprive rats of sleep, their body
temperatures plummet and they die. That tells us that the
body has an internal need for sleep," said Mark
Muehlbach, clinical director of the Clayton Sleep Institute,
an agency that tests people for sleep disorders.
Few people would deny that a good night's sleep makes
them feel refreshed and restored. Some studies show that
sleep may allow the body to remove toxins and restore damaged
tissues. Others show that sleep may help us store memories in
the brain and "get rid of nonsense." Some
researchers are trying to determine the effects of sleep
deprivation on the immune system. And at least one study has
reported that people who drive while sleep-deprived cause as
many accidents as people who drive drunk.
For years, sleep experts have recommended that adults get at
least eight hours of sleep a night to function properly. Yet
a poll conducted in 2000 by the National Sleep Foundation
(www.sleepfoundation.org) found that "on average, adults
sleep just under seven hours during the workweek" and
that one-third of adults sleep only six and a half hours - or
less - nightly. The foundation, a nonprofit organization that
supports sleep- and fatigue-related education, research and
advocacy, also learned that "a full 45 percent of adults
agree that they will sleep less in order to accomplish
more."
That's because many of us are under the impression that
sleep is not as important as the other things we do, says Dr.
Kimberly Zoberi, a family practitioner in Des Peres, Mo.
"We live in a society that tells us we can do every
single thing, and we really can't," she said.
"Something's got to give, and unfortunately,
it's often our personal well-being."
And every afternoon, when our eyes ache to close for just a
few minutes, we lie about the seriousness of the situation.
Matt Uhles, a coordinator at the Clayton Sleep Institute,
cited a poll conducted in 2002 by the National Sleep
Foundation. "Fully 99 percent of participants admitted
that a poor night's sleep will impact performance the
next day," he said, "but 48 percent reported that
they thought it was 'normal' to be sleepy in the
afternoon."
It's not. If we got enough sleep each night, we
wouldn't feel sleep-deprived during the day. That's
not to say that almost everybody doesn't experience a dip
in the natural rhythm of the body in the afternoon.
"We do have a natural 'sinking period' from 2
to 4 p.m. each day, a time when we should slow down,"
said Uhles. "Other societies have a siesta at this time,
but we Americans refuse to take daily naps." If you are
running on something close to empty, that natural dip will be
harder on you.
Why don't people get enough sleep? Too many temptations.
"As a result of indoor lighting and around-the-clock
entertainment, our sleep patterns have changed dramatically,
even though our need for sleep has not," said Zoberi.
"Now when the sun goes down, instead of ending the day
as our ancestors did, we go to the movies, do household
chores, watch TV or head for the mall."
Uhles agreed. "Most people sleep by default," he
said. "In fact, a large portion of the population sees
sleep as an unnecessary evil."
Some people, of course, suffer from sleep disorders. And
studies show most people deal with sleep disorders on their
own, perhaps choosing an over-the-counter medication at the
pharmacy or grocery. Zoberi isn't opposed to that
solution, at least for a few days. "Over-the-counter
medications are OK for very short-term use - maybe two or
three days in a row," she said.
How do you know when sleep deprivation has surpassed being
an occasional problem and developed into a disorder? If
you've had trouble sleeping off and on for a month or
longer, Zoberi suggests seeing your doctor.
Insomnia - the ability to fall asleep or stay asleep - is
the most common sleep problem, and about half of older adults
report frequently experiencing at least one symptom of
insomnia. Insomnia itself may be a symptom of another sleep
disorder, including sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome,
involuntary leg jerks or narcolepsy, which is a disorder of
the central nervous system. Depression or anxiety also may
contribute to a loss of sleep.
"Most disorders are treatable, and usually we can put
people back to sleep," said Muehlbach.
Sometimes, people overlook a string of sleep disturbances
during the week, figuring they will catch up on lost sleep
over the weekend. Zoberi isn't buying that. "Our
bodies do try to catch up, and if given the opportunity, you
will sleep more," she said. "But does catching up
erase the damage you did over the last five days? No.
It's better to get the right amount of sleep, let your
body have time to do its restorative functions, each
night."
You may be thinking that naps are the answer. They
aren't. A short nap does not provide the deep sleep your
body needs. Also, a nap that lasts too long can interfere
with sleep later that night. However, Zoberi said a 30- to
45-minute nap about the same time every day "can refuel
you to get through the next set of challenges."
Even people reluctant to go to bed earlier or take short
naps are likely to admit there is an innate attraction to the
idea of personal downtime. "We tell people to think of
sleep as a minivacation that you take every day," said
Uhles. "You can't get around it, because you
can't survive without sleep. It's in the top three,
along with water and food. Your body must have it."
Why remains a mystery. In spite of the countless studies
that show how sleep helps us, researchers do not understand
precisely why we need sleep.
"That is the million-dollar question," Muehlbach
said. "All research shows that if we go without sleep,
we get tired, which is the body telling us we need to sleep -
but we don't really know why. Still, since we spend about
one-third of our lives sleeping, we would hope there is more
than one single function that benefits."
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