"The Impact of Quality Sleep on Physical Health and Cognitive Function"

Do you believe, if i say, your brain is working more actively, while you are sleeping with completely inactive body at night. Then yes . its scientifically proven , sleep is not an inactive state of mind. but involved certain part of your brain that regulate many physiological functions of your body and help you in detoxification and rejuvenation along with the immune system strengthening .again memory consolidation , the most important brain function takes place during sleep , important for your long term survival .

In 2019, Boston University researchers uncovered a critical activity taking place when you snooze. Blood flows out of your brain and cerebrospinal fluid flows in, “washing through your brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves” — essentially flushing toxic, memory-impairing proteins.

“If you are getting insufficient sleep to allow this to occur,” says Dr. Talene Churukian, a sleep medicine specialist at Eisenhower Health, “those proteins can build up and form plaque. That’s the culprit behind dementia.”

She notes a 2015 consensus statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society that adults need a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night for optimal physical and mental health.

Sleep is cyclic in nature. it involves, 4 stages , that is N1, N2, N3, & REM sleep stage. this 4 stage cycle repeats itself from 4 to 5 times in 7 hr duration of overnight sleep. each single cycle takes around 90 to 120 mins. Each stage has its own time percent and involves in different brain functions. so here, one can say, both quality and quantity matters, when it comes to healthy sleep. ideal quantity which is best recommended for adults is atleast 7 hr per night . so you can have sufficient time for each stage to perform their function well. researches have shown by sleeping less than 7 hr each night, a person collect a cumulative sleep debt, which start affecting the body in slow and gradual manner.

Sometimes, one sleep during daytime to cover night debt, then make it sure your daytime nap shouldnt exceed 15 mins and must be finished before 2pm. in case of chronic Insomnia patients, this small snooze too may create night time disruptive sleep.

The brain’s pineal gland, which serves as a cue for the biological clock, produces less melatonin with age and certain conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease.

“Deviant circadian rhythms and poor sleep quality are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive diseases; poor quality of life; and mortality,” states a 2018 article in the British Journal of Pharmacology. “

Ensuring you get quality sleep involves more than lying your head on a pillow.

one need to follow strict sleep hygiene regimen as part of life . then only you can aspect healthy sleep and lifestyle.

DR. RITU DAGA