Sleepan Absolute Most for Functional Existence
Sleep—an Absolute Most for Functional Existence
The best course of action to take sometimes isn't clear until you've listed and considered your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what the experts think is significant.
What can be more essential for a normal, healthy life than night after night of restful sleep and comfort? Of course, one may discount an occasional night that you spend tossing and turning in your bed because of certain pressures at work or a personal problem. But on the whole, everyone needs a peaceful rest of about 6-8 hours everyday to function efficiently at work and to maintain an alertness and agility that is needed in every sphere of life. It is surprising that even though sleep is a simple physiological phenomenon that is so essential to our basic well being, it is still not fully understood by scientists or medical practitioners. What is clear is that the body needs rest for the normal functioning of the immune system & the nervous system and for a normal cell growth.
A normal cycle of rest can be divided into five stages. Stage 1 is the stage of light rest during which the muscles of the individual relax. Stage 2 is characterized by a decrease in the brain activity and also the eye movement. Stage 3 & Stage 4 are the stages of deep rest that are marked by an absence of muscle activity and eye movement. Stage 5 is the stage known as R.E.M or rapid eye movement. These stages keep repeating themselves during a single night sleep. It takes about one and a half hours to complete a single cycle from stage 1 to R.E.M.
Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there's more to Sleep than you may have first thought.
The amount of rest needed by an individual to stay healthy depends on a number of factors, age being the most important one. Newborns and infants rest for most of the day with their average sleep hours ranging from 16-18 hours. As the child grows, the number of hours that he needs to sleep gradually decrease with a teenager sleeping for nine hours on an average. A full grown adult needs about 6-8 hours of rest every night to feel refreshed and alert in the morning. The need to rest again increases during old age with elderly people sleeping several times during the day. However, the incidence of disorders also increases in old age with a high percentage of elderly people suffering from the symptoms of one disorder or the other.
To enjoy a restful sleep, it is best that we avoid the deterrents to a peaceful rest. Avoid caffeine, especially during nighttime, as it can cause insomnia. Intake of Alcohol, anti-depressants and smoking can also result in obstructing the rapid eye movement. These substances, therefore, obstruct a restful deep sleep.
There's no doubt that the topic of Sleep can be fascinating. If you still have unanswered questions about Sleep, you may find what you're looking for in the next article.