Sleep - What's the story?

I will always remember receiving a CV at my old company. It was the most plain, empty and bland CV I had ever seen (it made me feel like Einstein.) The poor fellow had barely any school grades and no qualifications. Under the "hobbies and interests" section there was 1 line. Just the 1 line. It read as follows "In my spare time I like to sleep." Now to me and my colleagues it was the funniest CV we had ever seen and we actually had it posted up on the notice board for weeks just for a good giggle and as an example of what not to do. Poor guy! I'd like to say I'm sorry but I'm not it was HILARIOUS!!.. Anyway, as time has gone by and the more I've learned about sleep I actually wish we hired him or at least gave him a chance. Where does it all start?

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

The average amount of sleep was 12 hours a night before the light bulb was invented and working hours were shorter. Sleep has reduced significantly with people now struggling to hit 8 hours of sleep per night and working hours increased. This has resulted in an increase in illnesses and diseases.

Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989, it caused the second-largest oil spill in the history of the United States. The spill dumped 11 million gallons of oil into the open ocean.

Chernobyl disaster was one of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Chernobyl is still highly contaminated and is still as it was when evacuated in 1986.

Challenger shuttle lifted off in January of 1986. Then, it reacted in horror when Challenger exploded seconds later.

Sadly the list goes on but what was the cause? well in the investigations to all recent major disasters points to sleep deprivation as of the main cause. A recent study in the U.K has shown that 1 out of 5 people are sleep deprived! 1 out of 5! now have a think about how many of those people you drove past on the road today..... scary right!

Sleep deprivation is deadly not just the effects but go too long without sleep and it will kill you. It has been as a method of torture for centuries. Here are a few more things sleep deprivation is linked to.

It causes accidents

As I mentioned above it causes injuries, accidents, disasters and death. Scientists say that a lack of sleep affects the body the same way drinking alcohol does. Research found that after 17 hours without sleep, our alertness is similar to the effects of a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% which is over the legal limit for driving.

Illness and diseases These are some illnesses directly linked to being deprived of sleep for prolonged periods of time.

• High blood pressure

• Heart attack

• Heart failure

• Stroke

• Obesity

• Psychiatric problems, including depression and other mood disorders

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

• Mental impairment

• Fetal and childhood growth retardation

• Injury from accidents

• Disruption of bed partner's sleep quality

• Poor quality of life

It ages you

When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic. Sleep loss also causes the body to release too little human growth hormone. When we’re young, human growth hormone promotes growth. As we age, it helps increase muscle mass, thicken skin, and strengthen bones.

Where am I going wrong?

Lack of regular exercise

Exercise lifts mood and reduces stress. It can strengthen circadian rhythms, promoting daytime alertness and helping bring on sleepiness at night. 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.

Too much caffeine

Despite what people think caffeine does not give you a boost in energy, rather it helps prevent the breakdown/use of energy. Caffeine does have health benefits but when over consumed it has negative effect on the body. Constantly forcing the adrenal glands to work beyond their normal capacity can overload them and cause adrenal fatigue. Once this happens you will be constantly tired and irritated and disturb your natural rhythm. Too much alcohol

If you haven't read my blog on alcohol then go ahead and read it now trust me you'll thank me later... anyway. A study showed consuming alcohol actually made test subjects fall asleep faster. It also massively disrupted their sleep pattern and caused the deep sleep state where our bodies recover to be effected. Making it irregular resulting in being extremely tired the following morning.

Stimulating the brain before sleep

How many of you complain saying “oh I just couldn’t fall asleep last night” well what do you expect when you are keeping your brain active by having the bright light shining in your eyes from your phone while relentlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram or by having your tv on watching Netflix or Youtube videos until 2am.

How can I improve my sleep?

It's not all bad news, sleep clinics have shown that sleep deprivation can be recovered from relatively quickly. An American man by the name of Randy Gardner is the holder for the scientifically documented record for the longest a human has intentionally gone without sleep not using stimulants of any kind. In 1964, Gardner, a high school student in San Diego, California, stayed awake for 264.4 hours (11 days 25 minutes ). After completing his record, Gardner slept 14 hours and 40 minutes, awoke naturally around 8:40 p.m., and stayed awake until about 7:30 p.m. the next day, when he slept an extra ten and a half hours. Gardner appeared to have fully recovered from his loss of sleep, with follow-up sleep recordings taken one, six, and ten weeks after the fact showing no significant differences. No long-term psychological or physical effects have been observed.

1. Set yourself a bed time. Even if you aren't tired you need to start to train your body into a regular sleeping pattern. Ironic how when we are younger we always want to stay up late past our bed times, then as we get older all we could do is sleep more!

2. Avoid having caffeine or alcohol leading up to going to bed as this will disrupt your sleeping pattern and limit your body's ability to repair during REM sleep.

3. Switch off! Turn any electrical devices off and set your alarm on your phone and put it out of reach. If you have a TV in the bedroom make sure to switch it off at the plug before bed.

4. Pitch black. Make your room as dark as possible. Turn all lights off and get yourself some black out curtains.

5. Read in bed - As your brain works hard and your eye muscles tire, it's only natural that they would need rest, leading to eyes slowly closing and sleep taking over.

6. Relax before bed - mediation is great for relaxing the body, also try out ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) type it in on Youtube and listen before going to bed, it will help relax you, its my personal favourite type of relaxation.

7. Most importantly EXERCISE and make it regular, exercise improves the human circadian rhythm (body temperature and the sleep-wake cycle) Not too late though, remember we are trying to slow the body down before sleep, so exercising right before bed is not recommended.

Thank you, sweet dreams and I'll see you on the next one.