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Jo Sowat hai Wo Khowat hai ! No, Not Really!! Read to know about importance of sleep and some interesting facts

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“Saddy!!! Uth jao ab, warna thappad maar denge” (Translation: Get up Saddy, or I will slap you now), shouted Praveen, frustrated of Saddy’s habit of sleeping anytime, anywhere. I was visiting them after they got transferred to Chennai. It was Praveen’s birthday and we planned to go out and enjoy the evening at Thiruvanmiyur beach followed by some road side food. It was a pleasant evening, a rarity in Chennai as told by Praveen and he was in no mood to waste the evening being at home, watching tv and eating pizza: the regular weekend routine of Saddy and Praveen. Saddy was sleeping like a royal and we were getting late for our excursion. “He always does this. Sleeps in the bus, sleeps in cubicle, even sleeps in the food court queue, can you imagine that?”. I could, very well imagine that, because I have witnessed it during our training days in Mysore. Saddy’s super power is to fall asleep anywhere.

Sleep is a state of mind. No Rahul Gandhi reference here, it actually is. Or, let us say, sleep is a state of mind and body. The body reduces its functions to keep the movement of the voluntary muscles and interaction with the surroundings to minimal. The ability to react to external stimuli is decreased, but all of this can be reversed by a stimulus that is strong enough, thus waking you up. Remember how your mom used to wake you up? Tell us the most interesting ways in comments.
Sleep like a baby


Sleep Stages

There are various stages of sleep. These can be classified as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and Non-REM (NREM). When you feel drowsy and eventually slip into a light sleep, the NREM cycle begins. Eventually going through stages of NREM, you attain deep sleep. The heart rate and body temperature are lower, and brain uses less energy in deep sleep stage as compared to previous stages. REM phase is the next stage after deep sleep. This is the stage where we get dreams. The brain produces fast waves & eye movements in this stage of sleep.

Typically, a healthy adult has 4-6 cycles of NREM and REM in a night’s sleep, each cycle averaging around 90 minutes. Usually, you will get more of deep sleep in earlier part of your sleep and more REM just before you wake up.

Apart from NREM and REM, you usually spend some time being awake during the night. However, this awake time is generally so small that you don’t remember it. It could be the time when you adjust your body, change side or position of hands and legs.
Sleep Stages

Importance of sleep

Sleep serves a few very important purposes for healthy being of our body. Our body physically restores itself during sleep. Muscles are relaxed, and metabolic waste generated throughout the wake time is removed. Apart from this, sleep also enhances memory and cognitive abilities.
It will be apt to say that sleep is the recovery mechanism of body. While muscles heal and relax during sleep, the brain also reduces its activity to restore itself. The growth hormone, responsible for regeneration and reproduction of cells, and thus growth, is also secreted during deep sleep.

The body clock : Circadian Clock

Ever wondered how we usually feel sleepy at a specific time of the night and wake up at almost same time every morning? Well, this mechanism is known as Circadian Clock, which is a neuro-chemical system. It takes signal from external environment and creates a day-night rhythm internally. This is what we usually refer as ‘Body Clock’. It tells your body to remain awake throughout the day, and to go to sleep at night.

Nerd Note 1: The sensation of falling while sleeping is commonly experienced. It is usually experienced moments before slipping into the NREM stage of sleep. It is known as Hypnic jerk.

Nerd Note 2: Jet lag while travelling between different time zones is caused due to desynchronization of Circadian rhythm.

Nerd Note 3: Lack of sleep enhances hunger hormones. So if you want to lose some weight, make sure you are sleeping enough.

Nerd Note 4: Nap, or a short sleep in afternoon is considered to be reducing cardiovascular stress significantly. It is also known as siesta.
A man catching 'siesta'

In the fast-moving world of cut-throat competition, tight deadlines, longer working hours, family responsibilities, we tend to sacrifice on our sleep unknowingly, ignoring the fact how important it is for our well-being. 
Wittyscribble urges all its readers to take good care of their health, and one step towards it could be to ensure a relaxing regular sleeping pattern. Sleep tight.

And as always,
Thanks for reading.
Ayush!!!

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