Sunday, June 13, 2010

Are you Sleep Deprived?

Good Health Good Life
There are two stages of one's sleep:

REM (Rapid Eye Movement)-contributes to mental consolidation
Non- REM-Aids physical repair and rebuilding
During a typical night, one alternates between the above two stages approximately 4-5 times. Insufficient number of hours of sleep contributes to:

Mental irritability (5-6 hours of sleep) due to lack of REM sleep
Physical tiredness (<5 hours of sleep) due to lack of non-REM sleep
ATHLETES: You need to bear in mind that in case you are a runner, your body needs an extra hour of sleep to repair any running related tissue/cell damage.

EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN AND BODY:

Neurons start malfunctioning
Slurring of speech can begin
Slows imaginative thinking
Causes hallucinations
Learning capabilities are reduced
Causes a 'sleep debt', which when coupled with stress and hypertension can lead to a stroke or heart attack

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