At dinner one night, Chauncey M. Depew joined a small group of friends who were in the midst of an animated discussion. “Oh, Mr Depew!” exclaimed one of the ladies. “You’re just in time to settle an argument. What is the most beautiful thing in the world?”
“A beautiful woman,” replied the gallant Depew, without hesitation. But his companion seemed shocked at his levity. “I contend,” she said seriously, “that sleep is the most beautiful thing in the world.”
“Well,” said Depew thoughtfully, “next to a beautiful woman, sleep is.”
Whether you are young or old, good sleep is vital to your physical and mental health. However, sleep is not something we can always control. Your body needs about seven hours of sleep a night to regenerate fully and maintain good health and wellbeing. If slumber eludes you, your body will tell you it is time to make some changes, both to your sleeping environment and your lifestyle.
Dr Harvey Moldofsky , Medical Director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic of the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology in Toronto, says special immune-boosting functions come into play when you sleep. Most adults do not get around seven hours of sleep a night and they run the risk of falling ill. Sometimes we wonder whether sleeping too much would make us tired. According to medical experts, healthy people cannot sleep too much. But chronic oversleeping can indicate the onset of sickness or depression.
Restless nights
When young people prepare for an examination they spend restless nights without getting adequate sleep. It can lead to chronic insomnia that has long been considered a symptom of depression. Recent studies show that it may also bring on the blues.
Michael Perlis, Director of the University of Rochester Sleep and Neuro-physiology Research Laboratory says, “Insomnia can be a major contributor to depression.” In his study of 147 healthy elderly people who woke up often during the night were about six times more likely to become depressed than those who slept well.
Anybody who breathes freely can sleep well. However, if you are suffering from sleep apnoea, you will repeatedly stop breathing and awaken throughout the night. This can be distressing and dangerous. Doctors have long known that up to 75 percent of people with sleep apnoea also have gastro-esophageal reflux (GER), so they often treat it with heartburn medication.
They found that GER could account for many night-time sleep arousals. Therefore, if you are worried about persistent sleep problems, talk to your doctor who may recommend medication or cognitive behavioural therapy.
In order to sleep well, you need a standard mattress and a pillow. Selecting the right mattress means not only finding one that is the right size but also looking at the materials used and whether it suits your budget and needs. Coir mattresses were the cheapest but they are no longer available.
They have been replaced by continuous-coil mattresses, but coils often wear out quickly. Even the springs begin to move. On the other hand, open-coil mattresses are constructed of single springs fixed together by wire. Then there are pocket spring mattresses which are very comfortable.
Mattresses
Today most people go for memory-foam mattresses as they are topped with a layer of temperature-sensitive viscoelastic material that moulds and remoulds the contours of the body. Although expensive, they provide support and help to relieve pressure on painful joints.
However, the foam loses its memory after about ten years. On the other hand, latex or high-density foam mattresses offer a high degree of sleeping comfort as they conform perfectly to your body and sleep positions. It also minimizes pressure on your head, shoulders and hips. Such mattresses are a good option if you are allergic to house dust mites.
Along with a good mattress you need a comfortable pillow that conforms to your sleep position. If you sleep on your side, your pillow has to prop up your head, so that it should be thicker than the pillow for a back sleeper. If you have problems with your neck, opt for a smaller pillow.
A large pillow will often shift during the night, resulting in neck and back pain. According to experts, goose and duck downs are the softest, lightest natural filling, but they are not good if you are prone to allergies as they harbour dust mites. Good alternatives are synthetic down or foam.
If you have trouble sleeping, you may have to make a few changes in your lifestyle. Try to go to bed and get up at regular times. It will provide the much-needed sleep rhythm and synchronise the body’s biological clock.
Avoid wrestling with problems in the evening because worrying spoils sleep. If possible, prepare a to-do list before going to bed and then relax. If you drink alcohol, coffee or black tea before going to bed, they will compel you to visit the bathroom during the night. Such stimulants will also interfere with sleep.
Dreams
Dreams play a major role in sleep. If you cease to see dreams, it indicates some damage to the parietal lobe which is the part of the brain that draws on sensory information to help us navigate through space.
Deteriorating levels of dream indicate amnesia. If you have too many dreams, there can be brain damage or drug withdrawal. If you see violent dreams, they may indicate Parkinson’s disease, dementia or migraines. If you see hyper-realistic dreams, they indicate bereavement or psychosis.
A few hours before going to bed, have a light meal. Heavy meals mess up your body cycles by drawing blood to your digestive system. Do not wait till bedtime to discuss family problems. Find solutions to them early in the evening. You should never climb on to your bed with a bundle of problems. Dim the lights to promote the production of sleep-inducing melatonin. Turn down the volume of the air-conditioner because any noise louder than 60 decibels will subconsciously stimulate your nervous system and keep you awake.
Tony Buzan, inventor of Mind Maps, says, “Stress and sleep deprivation often feed into each other, since stress tends to make it harder for you to fall asleep at night and sleep deprivation in itself causes stress. Over time, too little sleep can dramatically interfere with the performance of your memory – something you obviously want to prevent.”
Sleeping pills
Some sleep deprived people take tranquillisers and sleeping pills. They may be a valuable medication when used for a short period or during critical circumstances. If continued for a few weeks, they become ineffective. They impair the intellectual faculty and performance and can be lethal when combined with alcohol.
With advancing age, people need fewer hours of sleep, but they need more rest. They sleep less because they need less sleep. Instead of worrying about it or tossing fretfully, why not turn on the light and read for a while or get up at an earlier hour than the rest of the household thus adding more pleasant hours to the day instead of more restless hours to the night?