Sleep is the elixir of life and we cannot do without enough sleep. After sleeping through the night, we feel fresh, rested and energetic. Nevertheless, many people are particularly aware of the issue because they suffer from sleep difficulties.
What is sleep?
Sleeping is important for recovery and helps us when we are anxious, stressed or sick. With the help of sleep diagnostics, physicians try to study the phenomenon of sleep. In the past, doctors assumed that the entire organism is in a state of reduced activity during sleep. However, thanks to brain wave measurements, we now know that the brain also has a different functional state during this time. Sleeping is important for recovery and helps us when we are anxious, stressed or sick. Sleep also helps us get over many things and it is important for memory. The thought of being able to snuggle into bed after a tiring day fills us with joy. We can hardly control the processes during sleep. When we get tired, the body signals us that we need a break. Now it’s time to sleep so that we can regenerate. During sleep, however, we are not as inactive as some believe. The brain and metabolism also work during sleep, albeit at a slower pace. If we are overworked, the pineal gland releases the hormone melatonin, which prepares all bodily functions for sleep. The energy metabolism and all functions are reduced. Even body temperature drops slightly, blood pressure drops, and pulse and breathing slow down. If metabolic products have accumulated over the day that need to be broken down, fatigue sets in.
Function and task
A newborn’s sleep is determined by its internal clock and is evenly distributed throughout the day and night. The baby sleeps for about 4 hours and is awake for 4 hours. As the baby grows older, the main sleep period forms at night. However, not everyone prefers to sleep at the same time. Thus there are night people and day people. Throughout life, the preferred sleeping time remains constant. It is an individual characteristic. Neuroscientists disagree about the function of sleep for the organism. We know that we cannot sleep in advance, nor do we become more efficient the longer we sleep. Some scientists believe that sleep serves to store memories, others assume that its task is to erase them. Sleep is particularly important for the brain development of children. Cell damage is repaired, which is why the term ‘beauty sleep’ has a real meaning. People who sleep a lot feel more rested and more efficient. Sleep strengthens the metabolism and the immune system. But at some point, the amount of sleep is enough. We don’t get healthier by sleeping more than we need. Too much sleep can even lower life expectancy, as recent research has shown. Regardless, everyone has a different need for sleep. On average, an adult can get by on seven to eight hours of sleep per night. The need for sleep is genetically determined and can hardly be influenced from the outside. Some people can get by on five or fewer hours of sleep, while others need a midday nap in addition to their nighttime sleep. A person has reached the optimum sleep duration when he or she is well rested but not tired. During night sleep, humans go through a cycle that is divided into several sleep phases. We usually go through six cycles per night. Sleep researchers believe that sleep just before midnight is the healthiest.
Diseases and ailments
If sleeping through the night is prevented, we feel exhausted the next day. While occasional sleepless nights are not harmful, however, permanent sleep deprivation has a significant effect on the organism and leads to vegetative and psychological symptoms. Sufferers are easily irritable, have unstable breathing and a restless pulse. They become suspicious and may even hallucinate. Sleep is affected by many factors. Illnesses of all kinds affect sleep. When we have infections, we have an increased need for sleep and sleep affects health. As we age, we wake up more often and the quality of sleep is poorer. Sleepwalking is also a phenomenon that disturbs sleep, but is not even perceived as such by the person affected. As a rule, it is not dangerous.Between the ages of six and ten, children often suffer from nightmares. Due to the active visual and emotional brain elements, the dreamers appear very vivid. Stresses and emotional problems can be the cause. However, the older the children get, the less frequent the nightmares are. Usually, after waking up, the dreamers can remember the dream content very precisely. In the sleep phase, in which nightmares predominantly occur, the sleeping experience the dreamed extremely intensively. Psychopharmaceuticals can also lead to nightmares, and post-traumatic stress disorders often show themselves through recurring nightmares. Some sleep disorders can even become life-threatening, such as sleep apnea. In this disease, breathing becomes progressively weaker and sometimes stops. When the brain receives too little oxygen, the sleep apneic wakes up. This can happen several times a night. How healthy our sleep is, however, does not depend on when we go to bed, but on the quality of the first sleep phase. Poor mattresses, too much brightness, noises and medication all have an influence on our night’s rest. Food also influences sleep. However, many of these disruptive factors can be eliminated.
