Lack of sleep causes the liver to start secreting enzymes that predispose an individual not to recover from the deleterious effects of sleep loss,” reveals a study conducted by biologist Paul Franken.
A total lack of sleep leads to death in a few days, as has been observed in studies with rodents.
The animals suffer a metabolic imbalance, begin to quickly lose calories and increase the intake of food to compensate, but the loss is faster and a metabolic failure occurs.
At the same time the immune system stops working properly and infections appear.
These symptoms are similar to those experienced by humans with sleep disorders such as chronic insomnia, which suffers 13% of the population, and point the keys on the functions of this fundamental process.
We know that you can not live without sleeping but we do not know the exact function it has.
Fatigue due to lack of sleep makes people move less. It also causes less leptin to secrete. Leptin, is a protein that dilates the stomach walls and creates a feeling of fullness.
At the same time, more ghrelin is produced. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite. Clearly, the lack of hours of sleep is making us more obese,
Most people are not aware of the harms of lack of sleep
We have an elastic concept of sleep as if it were chewing gum that we can crush when there is no time to sleep and then stretch it when we have time.
But it does not work like that. Compensating lost sleep with a binge of hours in bed relieves behavioral symptoms, such as tension and fatigue, but not the consequences on the endocrine and cardiovascular system.
It is thought that one of the fundamental functions of the dream is to classify and preserve the memories accumulated during the day.
During deep sleep, the same areas of the brain that were lit when important experiences were recorded are activated, a process that may be related to the strengthening of those memories and the discarding of irrelevant ones.
“Probably that’s one of the reasons we sleep,” says Susanne Diekelmann of the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Sleeping shuts us down to reset vital functions
“The brain has to shut down and isolate itself from the outside world so as not to interrupt the reinforcement process, otherwise we could relive past experiences and suffer hallucinations,” she argues.
Her team is one of those whose studies have shown that this process can be controlled with sensory stimuli.
If a person stores a memory and at the same time perceives a certain smell, then, during sleep, the presence of that same aroma is enough to recover that memory and reinforce it unconsciously.
The next day, the memories associated with smells are stronger than those that did not have that sensory incentive.
“This type of research could lead to new treatments for people in rehabilitation, for example, those who have to relearn how to walk after a cerebral infarction,” says Diekelmann.
Further research regarding sleep quality shows the connections between memory and sleep in patients with Alzheimer’s.
“One of the most debilitating symptoms of the disease is the enormous nocturnal agitation of the patients, who can not rest.
In fact, insomnia is the main cause of hospitalization of people with Alzheimer’s.
If you manage to avoid sleep problems in these patients, you save many of the health problems caused by the disease.
Sleeping badly activates Killer brain Cells
Internally, your brain seems to be fine. What researchers recently discovered is that the problem is not in the neurons, but in another type of brain cells known as toxic glia, responsible for killing neurons.
The lack of sleep activates the toxic glia, which could explain the high neuronal mortality of people with Alzheimer’s.
Twenty years ago scientists discovered the role of hypocretins, essential proteins, to keep the brain awake and alert.
Currently, there are antagonist drugs of these molecules that are used as sleep facilitators for people with insomnia and that, soon, could help treat other disorders.
About 1 in 3 Americans gets less than seven hours of sleep a night, and more than 83 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived
Some of your “enemies of sleep” may include alcohol and caffeine, anxiety and depression, artificial lighting, long work hours, loneliness and overcommitment
Consistent lack of high-quality sleep wreaks havoc on your body’s two hunger-regulating hormones: ghrelin, also known as your “hunger hormone,” and leptin, referred to as your “obesity hormone”
Lack of sleep significantly raises your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, mainly because amyloid-beta deposits that would normally be cleaned out of your brain nightly during deep sleep accumulate and kill off surrounding cells
Poor sleep makes you two to three times more likely to develop a chronic pain condition. It also puts you at risk for other health problems such as higher cortisol levels, increased inflammation and reduced immune function
About 1 in 3 Americans gets less than seven hours of sleep a night and more than 83 million adults in the U.S. are sleep-deprived.1,2 If you work long hours, have a sleep disorder or spend a lot of time in front of electronic screens, you may be sleeping five or fewer hours per night. Such little sleep can trigger a wide range of health issues, such as chronic disease, increased risk of accidents, reduced sex drive and weight gain.
You may not realize sleep also plays an important role in memory formation, and chronic-sleep dysfunctions such as sleep apnea have been shown to accelerate memory loss. Earlier in life I disregarded the importance of sleep, at times getting no more than five or six hours a night. Now, because I value sleep as a significant factor with respect to my health and longevity, I get the recommended eight hours most nights.
I have said it many times before, and I hope you are taking this advice to heart: Most adults need about eight hours of sleep per night to function well. Children and teenagers, because they are still growing and developing, require nine or more hours of rest. As you likely have observed, it is also common for them to sleep even longer on weekends.
Sleep Deprivation: A Serious Threat to Society
Matthew Walker, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience and psychology, and founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, defines sleep deprivation as sleeping less than seven hours a night.
“No aspect of our biology is left unscathed by sleep deprivation,” says Walker. “It sinks down into every possible nook and cranny.”3Sleep deprivation, he notes, is associated with a number of serious diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, obesity and stroke.
In an interview with The Guardian,4 Walker points out how easy it is to observe sleep problems: “I get on a flight at 10 a.m. when people should be at peak alert, and half of the [passengers on the] plane [have] immediately fallen asleep.” According to a Gallup Poll,5Americans slept an average of 7.9 hours a night in 1942, but only 6.8 hours in 2013. Walker pins the blame for our consistently declining slumber patterns on the following “enemies of sleep:”
Alcohol and caffeine: These and other substances, such as sleeping pills, interfere with sleep quality and sleep time
Loneliness, anxiety and depression: The longing for connection and the effects of mental illness can often interfere with or cause people to forego sleep
Long work hours: The international business environment, increased global competition and longer commuter times are just a few of the factors contributing to the increase in work hours and stress-related burnout
Overcommitment: Schedules are filled from morning to night, and many people are unwilling to trade entertainment or socializing with family and friends for sleep
Interesting Facts About Our Global Sleep Problem
Below are some intriguing facts about our global sleep problem that may surprise you:6
Two-thirds of adults in developed nations fail to receive the World Health Organization’s recommended eight hours of sleep per night
A 2013 study7 reported men who slept too little had sperm counts 29 percent lower than those who regularly got a full night’s sleep
You are 4.3 times more likely to be involved in a crash than a well-rested driver when you drive on less than five hours of sleep; on just four hours of sleep, your risk of crashing is 11.5 times higher
A hot bath before bed readies you for sleep because it causes your dilated blood vessels to radiate inner heat, lowering your core body temperature, which is an essential activity to initiate sleep
More than 100 diagnosed sleep disorders exist, the most common of which is insomnia
The global population comprises 40 percent morning types, those who prefer to awaken at or around dawn; 30 percent evening types, those who go to bed late and wake up late; and 30 percent who are classified as somewhere in between
Why Is Lack of Sleep a Badge of Honor While Healthy Sleep Is Vilified?
According to Walker, for whatever reason, lack of sleep in modern times has become a sort of “badge of honor.” You may feel compelled to talk about how busy you are or how much you are accomplishing, even if pushing yourself to do increasingly more is causing you to damage your health by foregoing sleep.
On the other hand, good sleep can sometimes be characterized as a sign of sloth. “We have stigmatized sleep with the label of laziness,” says Walker. “We want to seem busy, and one way we express that is by proclaiming how little sleep we’re getting.”
Walker asserts no one would look at an infant and suggest he or she was a lazy baby. That’s the case because “we know sleeping is nonnegotiable for a baby.” Unfortunately, the notion that sleep is vital to our well-being is quickly dispensed with as we age. “Humans are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason,” suggests Walker.
Based on years of studying sleep, he is certain there is not a single person on the planet who can make it on five hours or less of sleep without suffering some level of short-term impairment or long-term illness. When asked if he takes his own advice about sleep, Walker replied:
“I give myself a nonnegotiable eight-hour sleep opportunity every night, and I keep very regular hours. If there is one thing I tell people, it’s to go to bed and to wake up at the same time every day, no matter what. I take my sleep incredibly seriously because I have seen the evidence.
Once you know that after just one night of only four or five hours of sleep, your natural killer cells — the ones that attack the cancer cells that appear in your body every day — drop by 70 percent, or that a lack of sleep is linked to cancer of the bowel, prostate and breast … how could you do anything else?”
Sleep Affects Your Body’s Hunger-Regulating Hormones
You may not realize a lack of consistent, high-quality sleep wreaks havoc on two of your body’s hunger-regulating hormones. Chronic lack of sleep can cause ghrelin — also known as your “hunger hormone” — to skyrocket, which has the effect of making you feel hungry when you really don’t need to eat. Ghrelin appears to act on your brain’s pleasure centers. This explains why you may be inclined to reach for a second brownie based on remembering how good the first one tasted and made you feel while you were eating it.
Leptin, also referred to as the “obesity hormone,” helps regulate your appetite, metabolism and feelings of satiety. Leptin tells your brain when you’re full and when it should start burning calories. When you are sleeping, your leptin levels increase, signaling your brain you have sufficient energy and letting it know to curtail any calorie burning or signals for hunger.
The decrease in leptin brought on by sleep deprivation often results in your metabolism slowing down and your body signaling a constant feeling of hunger even though you do not need to eat. Because leptin is secreted by fat tissue, if you are overweight, you likely have higher than normal levels of leptin, which may lead to leptin resistance.
Overly high levels of leptin have been tied to heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and stroke, as well as blood sugar problems.8If you are leptin resistant, your body will receive signals that may lead you to continue to eat even when you’ve actually had enough. While chronic sleep deprivation cannot shoulder total responsibility for the continuing surge in global obesity rates, Walker believes it certainly plays a significant role. He states:9
“I’m not going to say the obesity crisis is caused by the sleep-loss epidemic alone. It’s not. However, processed food and sedentary lifestyles do not adequately explain its rise. Something is missing. It’s now clear sleep is that third ingredient.”
The researchers stated, “These differences in leptin and ghrelin are likely to increase appetite, possibly explaining the increased BMI observed with short sleep duration.” 11A sleep-disorders study involving more than 1,000 participants, which was designed to uncover a link between sleep problems and metabolic hormones, concluded:10
Those who slept for five hours had 14.9 percent higher ghrelin levels and 15.5 percent lower leptin levels than those who achieved eight hours of sleep
The short sleepers had higher body mass indexes (BMIs)
Running Low on ZZZs May Put You at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
While working on his Ph.D. in neurophysiology, Walker stumbled into the realm of sleep. After failing to successfully identify brainwave patterns in people with different forms of dementia while testing them during daytime hours, Walker stumbled across a scientific paper revealing a probable link between sleep and dementia. In the ensuing six months, Walker set up a sleep laboratory and began to study his patients’ brainwave patterns at night. In doing so, he found that sleep quality, it seemed, could be an early diagnostic for dementia.
Now, Walker is convinced too little sleep during your adult life span significantly raises your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This is the case because amyloid-beta deposits that would normally be cleaned out of your brain nightly during deep sleep accumulate as plaques and kill off surrounding cells.12 This waste-removal system has been dubbed the glymphatic system, and operates similarly to your body’s lymphatic system, which is responsible for eliminating cellular waste products.
Because your brain is a closed system, protected by the blood-brain barrier, it needs its own system for waste elimination. Your glymphatic system gets into your brain by piggybacking on blood vessels in your brain. By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain’s tissues, your glymphatic system flushes waste from your brain back into your circulatory system for elimination by your liver.
Because your glymphatic system ramps up its activity during sleep, when you don’t get enough sleep, the damaging plaques build up, attack and degrade particular regions of your brain.
Walker notes a brain affected by Alzheimer’s has lost most of its ability to remove the amyloid-beta waste products, mainly because it is caught in a vicious cycle: more amyloid, less deep sleep; less deep sleep, more amyloid. If you are not sure of the steps you can take to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, please review my previous article “Alzheimer’s Disease — Yes, It’s Preventable!”
Lack of Quality Sleep Contributes to Chronic Pain
A U.K. study13 published in Sleep Medicine Reviews suggests poor sleep makes you two to three times more likely to develop a chronic pain condition, while also putting you at risk for other health problems. “Sleep and pain problems are two of the biggest health problems in today’s society,” said lead author Esther Afolalu, a Ph.D. student in the department of psychology at the University of Warwick in Coventry. Afolalu and her colleagues reviewed 16 prior sleep studies involving more than 60,000 adults from 10 countries.
The studies looked at how well people were sleeping at the onset of the research as well as the effects of longer-term sleep changes on participants’ immune function, pain and physical health. Half the participants were tracked upward of four years. Afolalu and her team wrote: “A decline in sleep quality and sleep quantity was associated with a two-to-three-fold increase in the risk of developing a pain condition, small elevations in levels of inflammatory markers and a decline in self-reported physical health status.”
Based on the research, if you do not get adequate sleep, you may be at risk for:
Reduced ability of your immune system to fight off bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances
Increased levels of other biomarkers related to fatigue, pain and poor health
Deficits in physical functioning
Notably, Afolalu and her team discovered recently developed insomnia doubles your risk of a chronic pain disorder and hip-fracture problems. While increases in sleep did not appear to directly diminish pain or arthritis, improved sleep did help participants function better physically. Keep in mind Afolalu’s research has two notable limitations: reliance on individuals to self-report their sleep patterns and a lack of consistent tools for measuring sleep quality and quantity.
Poor Sleep, Depression and Your Brain’s Reward Center
While the precise causes of depression are not always evident, certain factors such as poor sleep have been shown to contribute to it.14Insomnia, for example, has been shown to influence the onset, severity and recurrence of depressive episodes. If you routinely suffer from insomnia, you are at twice the risk of developing depression as compared to individuals who sleep well.
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience15,16 suggests your brain’s reward center may help protect you from the depressive symptoms traditionally associated with poor sleep. Researchers at Duke University have taken a closer look at the involvement of your ventral striatum (VS) — an area of your brain responsible for reward processing and motivation. Their objective is to better understand the role your VS may play with respect to depression and poor sleep.
Dysfunction in your VS is thought to be associated not only with depression, but also with addiction, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Parkinson’s disease. Because poor sleep is not necessarily associated with depression in every individual, researchers have found that stimulating the VS region of the brain has a therapeutic effect on some depressed patients.
Reut Avinun, Ph.D., department of psychology and neuroscience, Duke University, and her colleagues engaged more than 1,000 university students to explore the relationship among depression, self-reported sleep patterns and VS activity.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected while study participants played a card-guessing game designed to engage the VS indicated students with higher reward-related VS activity were less likely to report symptoms of depression even when their sleep quality was poor. Avinun said:17
“In our study, we showed how the negative effects of poor sleep can also be modulated by [the ventral striatum], so high reward-related activation can buffer the effect of poor sleep on depressive symptoms. This same region has been associated with optimism, so it’s possible individuals with this high reward responsiveness can cope with stressful and negative experiences better by having a more positive outlook.”
Further research in this area may help scientists gain further insight into how depression works, as well as assist them in identifying biomarkers for depression risk. Says Avinun: “In the future, I plan to work on gaining a better understanding of depression susceptibility, and help to identify the individuals who are more at risk of developing depression by looking at their brain and DNA.”
Is Your Chronic Sleep Problem Caused by Sleep Apnea?
Some 30 million adult Americans suffer from undiagnosed sleep apnea,18 a serious health condition which causes you to stop breathing while you are sleeping. Depending on the severity of your condition, these breath interruptions may occur just a few times — or hundreds of times — an hour. During these moments without breath, your brain and the rest of your body is literally being starved of oxygen.
If you have undiagnosed sleep apnea, you may be unknowingly putting yourself at risk for diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. In addition, sleep apnea can contribute to depression, insomnia, impotence, pregnancy complications and weight gain. Clearly sleep apnea is not something to be taken lightly.
Sleep apnea can often go unnoticed because doctors don’t routinely screen for it and you may be inclined to dismiss daytime sleepiness as “a bad night’s sleep” or stress. If you suspect you may be suffering from sleep apnea, you’ll want to seek the help of a qualified sleep specialist. Ask your general practitioner for a recommendation, and also do your own research. Some sleep doctors offer solutions focused on addressing only secondary problems, while you will want to uncover and treat the root issue(s).
Treatment Options for Sleep Apnea
Potential treatment options for addressing sleep apnea are as follows:
Buteyko Breathing Method: The Buteyko technique, which is named after the Russian doctor who developed it, is useful to reverse health problems caused by improper breathing, including sleep apnea
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP): CPAP is a special type of sleeping mask prescribed for severe sleep apnea, which is designed to mechanically restore your breathing by applying air pressure to open your airway
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy: Myofunctional therapy involves the neuromuscular reeducation or repatterning of your oral and facial muscles, including facial and tongue exercises and behavior modification techniques to promote proper tongue position, improved breathing, chewing and swallowing
Oral appliance: If you have mild to moderate sleep apnea related to jaw or tongue issues, dentists specializing in sleep apnea can design a custom “mouth guard” you can wear while sleeping to facilitate proper breathing
Weight loss: Because obesity and sleep apnea often go hand in hand, you may be able to dramatically relieve the effects of sleep apnea simply by losing weight; weight loss will reduce pressure on your abdomen and chest, thereby allowing your breathing muscles to function more effectively when you sleep
When it comes to how you breathe, your diet may play a bigger role than might imagine. Processed foods, which tend to acidify your blood in an attempt to maintain normal pH, cause you to breathe more heavily and can lead to chronic overbreathing. As such, processed, high-protein and high-grain meals have been shown to have negative effects on the way you breathe. Give your body a break by consuming more water, fruits and vegetables, which have lesser impact on your breathing.
Sleeplessness Is Having a Catastrophic Effect on Health and Well-Being
In the video above, Walker asserts his belief that getting sufficient quality sleep is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain and body and invigorate your health on a daily basis. I agree wholeheartedly. You may be surprised to know the World Health Organization, since 2007, has tagged shift work as a “probable human carcinogen” because it causes circadian disruption.19
While this news may surprise you, the truth is if you work erratic hours, particularly the night shift, you most assuredly are putting yourself at greater risk for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and obesity. While you may not be a shift worker, you very likely are wrestling with one or more issues that are causing you to sleep poorly.
No matter the root issue(s) you face, research linking chronic poor sleep and lack of sleep to disease and illness cannot be ignored. The scientific facts underscore my belief that there is no substitute for, nor any excuse for not getting, a full night’s rest. Says Walker:20
“The decimation of sleep throughout industrialized nations is having a catastrophic impact on our health and wellness. It is a silent sleep-loss epidemic. It’s time for us to reclaim our right to a full night of sleep, without embarrassment or the stigma of laziness. In doing so, we may remember what it feels like to truly be awake during the day.”
Given its importance, I encourage you to take a few moments today to evaluate your sleep habits. Are you getting enough sleep? If not, what’s one change you can make to improve the length and/or quality of your sleep? If you need help getting started, check out my 16 Chronological Tips to Improve Your Sleep.
Insomnia is a bigger issue in the United States than most people think. More than a third of all American adults aren’t getting enough sleep. That’s enough to be considered an epidemic. Sleeplessness doesn’t just make you yawn; it has a significant effect on obesity, diabetes, blood circulation, muscle health, heart health, the immune system, and cognitive behavior.[1]
Because of our sleep crisis, more people than ever before have resorted to sleeping pills. In 2015, Americans spent an estimated $41 billion on sleep aids. A 2013 study concluded that nearly nine million Americans use sleeping pills, and that figure continues to rise.[2] This is cause for concern as sleep aids can have severe health consequences. They may lead to dependence, addiction, and a number of negative side effects.[3, 4] Fortunately, there’s an all natural (and au naturale) trick you can try to sleep better tonight.
Simply sleeping naked has a host of health benefits including better sleep, balanced mood, better sex life, weight loss, and sexual health for both men and women.
1. Sleeping Naked Gives You Better Quality Sleep
Temperature has a tremendous effect on your sleep patterns and quality. While your body temperature is usually somewhere around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, studies have found cooler ambient temperatures support better sleep. A slight drop in room temperature signals your body that it’s bedtime, causing your brain to release a sleep hormone called melatonin. An ideal room temperature for sleeping is around 65° F.[5, 6]
Ambient temperature, pajamas, sheets, blankets, down comforters, the body heat of a sleeping partner, and the family cat dozing on your feet can all add up to make things uncomfortably warm, causing you to wake up. Shedding your pajamas and sleeping in the buff is a fantastic way to cool yourself down and enjoy your rest. Since nudity is free, it’s also significantly cheaper than cranking up the AC.
2. Napping Nude Supports Your Mood
Chronic insomnia drastically increases the risk of anxiety and depression.[7] Even partial sleeplessness can put you in a cranky mood. Fortunately, a good night’s sleep can quite literally clear your mind. We’ve always known that sleep helps support brain health, but only recently have we begun to understand why.
During your waking hours, your brain tissue gradually accumulates beta-amyloid, a protein that is toxic to nerve cells. When you sleep, your body signals the glial cells in your brain to open up and flush away these toxic proteins. With the better sleep you’ll get from going au naturale, you should be able to drain your brain and feel refreshed the next morning.[8, 9]
3. Sleeping Stark Naked Sparks Your Sex Life
Frequent nudity leading to more frequent sex may seem like a no-brainer. However, there’s a little more to it than just easier access. Skin to skin contact triggers your pituitary gland to release oxytocin. Often called “the love hormone,” oxytocin promotes feelings of attachment and emotional closeness. In other words, sleeping naked will put you in the mood for love more often.[10]
4. Going Commando Promotes Sperm Count
Not only does sleeping nude help with the aforementioned increase in sex, it can help improve sperm count as well. The ideal temperature for sperm production is just a few degrees cooler than body temperature. Tight undergarments leave the testes too hot. A 2016 study investigated the effects underwear choice had on men’s sexual health. It found that men who slept sans undies had a higher sperm count and better sperm quality than those that wore boxers or briefs.[11]
5. Nudity Supports Vaginal Health
Sleeping naked isn’t only important to men’s health, women can get the benefits of sleeping in the buff as well. The vagina is a resilient, self-cleaning organ, and sleeping nude helps it maintain balance and regulate PH levels. Constricting clothing traps heat and moisture. Warm, moist conditions encourage the growth of yeast and bacteria, possibly leading to vaginitis. Fresh air is the enemy of infection. Letting things air out by leaving your body uncovered at night can help prevent yeast infections and leave you feeling fresh.[12, 13]
6. Lose Weight by Losing Your Pajamas
No, you probably won’t be able to just sleep yourself slim, but when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, proper sleep can help support metabolism and encourage weight loss.[14]
Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your hunger hormones, leading to weight gain and obesity. Your hunger hormones are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin decreases your appetite, while ghrelin increases it. Your body produces leptin naturally while in the stages of deep sleep. Fitful sleep prevents your body from producing an adequate supply of leptin, while overproducing ghrelin.
This imbalance in your hormone levels leads to an abnormally elevated feeling of hunger, causing you to eat more than you should. A study by the University of Wisconsin confirms that poor sleep patterns are closely associated with high Body Mass Index (BMI) and obesity across all ages. Stripping before bed allows you to get better sleep and normalize your hunger hormone levels.
7. Sleeping Bare Helps Skin and Hair
Beauty rest is absolutely a real thing. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that your body produces in response to stress and low blood sugar. Studies have found that missing sleep can also cause a surge in cortisol levels. Unfortunately, elevated cortisol levels suppress growth hormone and disrupt your system, damaging hair growth and degrading skin. Keeping your cortisol levels low with the right sleep schedule will help keep your hair strong and your skin beautiful.[15, 16, 17]
Try It Tonight
Proper sleep is critical to your overall health. Sleeping nude won’t cure all sleep disorders, but it could help you rest a little better. It’s fun and free in more ways than one. Give it a try tonight and see if you feel the difference.
References (18)
“1 In 3 Adults Don’t Get Enough Sleep.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
Rudman, Daniel, Axel G. Feller, Hoskote S. Nagraj, Gregory A. Gergans, Pardee Y. Lalitha, Allen F. Goldberg, Robert A. Schlenker, Lester Cohn, Inge W. Rudman, and Dale E. Mattson. “Effects of Human Growth Hormone in Men over 60 Years Old.” New England Journal of Medicine 323.1 (1990): 1-6. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
Nobody questions the importance of getting enough sleep. At minimum, it’s essential for rejuvenating the mind and revitalizing the body. But, what is enough? And what does it look like? Many people find they wake during the night and wonder if they’re suffering from a sleep disorder or other health issue. While that could be totally possible, it’s also possible that sleep may not be an all-night thing. In fact, historical records, centuries-old literature, and ancient references to sleep are all revealing a whole new way we should be looking at how we slumber.
Segmented Sleep: More Normal Than You Realize
If waking up during the night is a frequent “problem” for you, you might wonder if you’re suffering from insomnia or sleep apnea. “Segmented sleep” is a seemingly irregular sleep pattern that may not be a disorder at all, but a natural biological response that we, in modern times, have forgotten.
English scholar Roger Ekirch cemented the idea that our ancestors used to naturally “practice” segmented sleep, using their middle-of-the-night waking hours to pray, meditate, or finish chores around the home. [1] Roger Ekirch found references to “first sleep” and “second sleep” in literature, legal documents, and even letters written before the Industrial Revolution. The in-between hour or hours were usually spent in prayer, and many find it to be one of the most relaxing periods. This may be because this middle period between first sleep and second sleep is around midnight where the brain produces prolactin, a hormone that supports a feeling of relaxation.
Before Reaching for That Sleeping Pill, Consider This
Our natural biorhythms are governed by exposure to light and darkness. Before the introduction of the lightbulb, almost everyone scheduled their day around the rising and setting of the sun. When the sun rose in the morning, so did humans, and when the sun hit the horizon in the evening, we more than likely went to sleep around the same time. Our brain produces serotonin in response to sunlight, and this neurotransmitter provides an energetic, wakeful feeling. [2] In contrast, when we’re exposed to darkness–meaning no artificial light whatsoever–our brain produces sleep-regulating melatonin. Computers, television screens, smartphones, tablets, and every other source of light in the evening hours is artificially extending our waking hours and interfering with our neurochemistry.
Because of this, it is possible that the practice of segmented sleep naturally fell away from public knowledge. We stay up longer, produce serotonin when we’re not supposed to, and eat less-than-ideal food. All of which could be the reason why we usually sleep throughout the night without waking and view this as normal. Even most medical professionals and sleep specialists have never heard of segmented sleep and aren’t trained to handle this natural occurrence. So if this is happening to you, do a little more research into segmented sleep and its possible benefits before you reach for a sleeping pill. You may be more in tune with your ancestral rhythms than most people.
Do you wake up in the middle of the night? What do you do during that time? We’d love to hear your thoughts and insight!
In the largest survey to date on cannabidiol (CBD) usage, researchers found that nearly half of people using the products were able to quit using pharmaceutical drugs – something the pharmaceutical industry has long feared would happen.
The Brightfield Group and HelloMD – an online community that brings together doctors and cannabis patients – surveyed 2,400 people from HelloMD’s community of 150,000 members about their usage of CBD products and their effectiveness. [1]
Bethany Gomez, Director of Research for Brightfield Group, said:
“This study is exciting because it shows there is potentially a huge barely-tapped market for CBD products that could improve the lives of many people. With further research and public education, CBD could be an effective alternative treatment for many people, particularly at a time when our nation is in the midst of an opioid crisis.” [2]
Though the federal government has expressed wishes to crack down on medical marijuana, the facts show that CBD and other cannabis products are already helping people prevent and overcome opioid addiction. States with medical marijuana laws see decreased opioid use. A 2014 study found that cannabinoids may make it easier for the body and brain to detox from cocaine, amphetamines, and other hard-to-kick drugs.
Survey Findings
Before we go into the results of the survey, let’s have a crash course (or a refresher course) on cannabinoids and what they do.
Of the many cannabinoids found in marijuana, there are 2 primary ones taking the spotlight – CBD and THC. Both have medicinal qualities. THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives users a feeling of being “high,” is an analgesic. By comparison, CBD does not have psychoactive qualities, but has anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, and anti-convulsive properties.
Of the community members who participated in the survey, vaping was the preferred method of CBD consumption. The majority of CBD-only users were women (58%), and women accounted for 55% of CBD users, overall. It was the men who favored THC-dominant products. [3]
The conditions most commonly treated with CBD were depression, insomnia, anxiety, and joint pain. Participants also listed muscle tension or strain, migraines or tension headaches, severe or chronic pain, arthritis, and nausea as conditions they eased with CBD.
CBD worked so well for these conditions, in fact, that 42% said they were able to quit using traditional medications. Participants were able to kick to the curb prescription drugs like Vicodin and Ambien, as well as over-the-counter (OTC) meds including Tylenol (70%), Bengay, and even certain herbal and other natural remedies.
Unsurprisingly, 90% of respondents said they would purchase cannabis products again.
Moreoever, slightly more than 40% of those surveyed said the CBD product they used was “much more effective” than OTC products, and about 30% said the same of CBD’s efficacy compared with prescription products.
Dr. Perry Solomon, Chief Medical Officer of HelloMD, said:
“We are seeing an exponential rise in the interest of CBD products from our patient community—particularly among women. While we still have much to learn about CBD, we cannot ignore this one fact; the majority of those using CBD product today receive great benefit. This has the potential for far-reaching consequences.” [2]
Supporting Past and Other Current Findings
Earlier this year, a survey showed that 63% of respondents said they had replaced their pharmaceuticals with cannabis. This poses a clear and present danger to drug companies, which is why so many are helping to fund anti-legalization efforts.
One such company is Insys Therapeutics. The company fought medical marijuana in Arizona, and the drug maker received DEA approval early in 2017 for a synthetic marijuana drug.
Help me figure this one out, readers: Marijuana is a Schedule I substance, but Insys’ synthetic THC drug, Syndros is only a Schedule II – the federal government’s way of deeming Syndros less dangerous than the actual plant you grow, pick, dry, and smoke. [4]
I think we need to re-evaluate our collective stance on this much vilified plant.
Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.
There are few things worse than lying awake in bed, staring at the clock, knowing your alarm is going to go off in a few hours, and you’re still wide awake. Insomnia can be a never-ending cycle of constantly worrying yourself awake, night after night. A lack of sleep can make anyone feel terrible, emotionally and physically, but it’s especially troublesome for breast cancer survivors. Tai chi, a noncompetitive martial art known for its health and relaxation benefits, may help those warriors get more rest, a study finds.
About 30% of breast cancer survivors who have insomnia also wrestle with depression, fatigue, and a greater risk of illness. Researchers from UCLA say tai chi promotes significant improvements in sleep health in breast cancer survivors struggling to get enough shut-eye. It’s so effective, the researchers write in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,that it rivals cognitive behavioral therapy – the “gold standard” of treatment – in that the benefits endure longer than a year. [1]
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered the go-to insomnia treatment by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Much like it sounds, CBT involves learning how to identify and change negative thoughts and behaviors that make it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. It works, but it can get pricey; and it can sometimes be difficult to find professionals who are trained in the therapy method.
Tai chi is much more widely available, with libraries, churches, community centers, and other public venues offering free or low-cost classes. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you can always look up instructional videos on YouTube.
Of course, there are also some pretty potent sleep aids on the market, but there are good reasons to avoid them: Some of them, including the popular drug Ambien, have been called “as risky as cigarettes,” because they increase the risk of cancer and sudden death so significantly.
Testing Tai Chi’s Impact on Sleeplessness
For the study, researchers recruited 90 breast cancer survivors, ranging in age from 42 to 83, who had insomnia three or more times a week, and who also suffered with depression and drowsiness in the daytime. Each volunteer was randomly assigned to weekly CBT or weekly tai chi instruction, for three months. [2]
The participants were evaluated at intervals for the next year to track their insomnia symptoms, as well as their symptoms of fatigue and depression, and to determine whether there was any improvement.
Fifteen months into the study, 46.7% of those in the tai chi group, and 43.7% of those in the CBT group continued to show robust, clinically significant improvement in their insomnia symptoms. [1]
Dr. Michael Irwin, the study’s lead author, said:
“Breast cancer survivors often don’t just come to physicians with insomnia. They have insomnia, fatigue and depression. And this intervention, tai chi, impacted all those outcomes in a similar way, with benefits that were as robust as the gold standard treatment for insomnia.” [1]
Many of the participants continued to practice tai chi after the study concluded – a reflection of the motivation Irwin says he’s observed in breast cancer survivors.
“They often are seeking health-promoting activities because they recognize that the mindfulness approach, or health-based lifestyle interventions, may actually protect them.” [2]
In previous research, Irwin and his fellow researchers found that tai chi could help reduce inflammation in breast cancer survivors, and may even reduce the likelihood of the disease recurring. [2]
Mike is the co-founder, editor, and researcher behind Natural Society. Studying the work of top natural health activists, and writing special reports for top 10 alternative health websites, Mike has written hundreds of articles and pages on how to obtain optimum wellness through natural health.
A study suggests that treating insomnia can subsequently reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Surprising? Here is what the researchers found.[1]
Qiao He, a researcher at China Medical University, says in a news release:
“Sleep is important for biological recovery and takes around a third of our lifetime, but in modern society more and more people complain of insomnia. For example, it is reported that approximately one-third of the general population in Germany has suffered from insomnia symptoms.
Researchers have found associations between insomnia and poor health outcomes. But the links between insomnia and heart disease or stroke has [sic] been inconsistent.” [1]
For the study, researchers analyzed 15 cohort studies of 160,867 people who were followed for an average of 3 to nearly 20 years to see whether there was a link between insomnia and incidence of or death from cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease was defined in the research as:
Heart attack
Coronary heart disease
Heart failure
Stroke
A combination of events
Insomnia was defined as trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and non-restorative sleep. These conditions were respectively associated with a 27%, an 11%, and an 18% higher risk of cardiovascular and stroke events. [1]
“The underlying mechanisms for these links are not completely understood. Previous studies have shown that insomnia may change metabolism and endocrine function, increase sympathetic activation, raise blood pressure, and elevate levels of proinflammatory and inflammatory cytokines — all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke.” [1]
The study also found that women with insomnia were slightly more at risk than men for developing cardiovascular disease and stroke, but the difference was not statistically significant.
He explains that due to a lack of meta-analysis and the lack of statistically significant differences, the team couldn’t conclude that women with insomnia symptoms are in more danger of heart disease and stroke than men. But, she says:
“However, we do know that women are more prone to insomnia because of differences in genetics, sex hormones, stress, and reaction to stress. It may therefore be prudent to pay more attention to women’s sleep health.” [2]
According to the study, sleep helps repair and heal the heart and blood vessels, and gives the cardiovascular system a chance to rest. This in turn allows other organs to be restored.
She adds:
“Previous studies have shown that insomnia may change metabolism and endocrine function, increase sympathetic activation, raise blood pressure, and elevate levels of pro-inflammatory and inflammatory cytokines – all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke.” [2]
Past studies have indeed shown that not enough sleep – as well as too much of it – can damage your heart, possibly because it raises the calcium in your coronary arteries, leading to arterial stiffness.
A September 2015 study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine found that people with insomnia have a greater risk of both fatal heart attack and stroke.
In a report from November of 2016, researchers at the not-for-profit research organization RAND Europe wrote that lack of sleep results in higher mortality risk and costs the U.S. economy $411 billion a year. [3]
Many people shrug off sleep problems and consider it a normal consequence of modern life, but getting good sleep is essential for good health.
Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.
Parents, shut off your kids’ mobile devices at night and get them out of the room, because a new analysis shows that children with access to smartphones and tablets at night don’t get enough sleep and are groggy during the day – whether they use them or not. [1]
Researchers reviewed 20 previous studies and discovered that kids who use portable media devices around bedtime were more than twice as likely as kids who didn’t use them to have short sleep times. Not only that, but the same was found of kids who had access to the devices, but didn’t actually use them.
Lead study author Ben Carter of King’s College London said:
“A lot of people argue that it’s the device light emission that leads to sleep outcomes, but even if you’re not using it, even having the presence of the device near you affects sleep.
My personal view is it’s due to continuous stimulation from things like social media engagement.
Your social group is active and you can be thinking about it. If I text a loved one an hour before bed then I’m hoping I might get a reply.”
Unconscious but Connected
Carter and his colleagues looked at studies of children aged 6 to 19 years, covering a total of more than 125,000 kids, which measured exposures to tablets, smartphones, and other types of mobile devices, but excluded research involving TV, personal computers, or sources of electromagnetic radiation.
In every study, bedtime media device use was linked to trouble falling or staying asleep, and poor daytime function due to sleepiness.
Kids who used media devices at bedtime were found to have insufficient sleep times, considered less than 10 hours per night for children, and less than 9 hours for teens.
Children who had access to mobile devices at bedtime at least 3 times a week, or who had a device in their sleep environment, also had poorer measures of sleep quality and quantity than kids with less or no access.
Dr. Charles Czeisler, director of the Sleep Health Institute and chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said:
“It’s normal to wake up during the night but when the phone is there, many people instead of just turning over will tap on the phone ostensibly to check the time, will see 15 text messages from their buddy or whatever, then 2 hours later they’re going back to bed.”
Czeisler, who co-authored an editorial accompanying the review, added:
“It’s very engaging technology and when it’s present in the bedroom it reduces sleep duration.”
In other words, kids are continuously stimulated by devices in their environment, even when they are not using them.
Carter explained:
“One theory I hold is that there may be the effect of continuous mental stimulation and engagement which is keeping children awake.” [2]
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: What Parents Can Do:
In the editorial, Czeisler writes that blue-light blocking apps for smartphones and tablets can help reduce some of the negative sleep effects caused by mobile devices. Blue light interferes with the body’s internal clock and makes the brain tell your body you should be awake, when you really should be snoring away in your bed.
Source: How It Works
Additionally, Czeisler says:
“For those concerned about the effect of media use on sleep time, technology is now available to restrict service between designated hours or allow a maximum daily duration of media use each day, while allowing for parental overrides in exceptional circumstances. Such programs can be used to reinforce consistent bedtimes and wake times, which are vital for sleep health, especially in children and adolescents.”
It’s likely your smartphone has an option to shut off notifications between specified hours of your choosing. I know mine does. Of course, it’s also likely your kids know how to turn notifications back on…
The most effective (and perhaps most obvious) solution is to keep mobile devices out of kids’ bedrooms. Have children and teens charge their devices in another room. You can purchase family charging stations at just about any store that sells smartphones. [3]
It’s also important for parents to instill in their kids the importance of “winding down” before bedtime. About an hour or so before bed, have your child take a calming bath and read a book together. Have teens “unplug” and read a book or do some other quiet, relaxing activity before lights-out.
Most importantly, parents should model healthy sleeping habits. Establish your own “winding down” routine, and make sure if you buy a family charging station, that your device is plugged in, too.
Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.
