sleep

sleep is the elixir of life and we cannot do without enough sleep. After a good night's sleep, we feel fresh, rested and active. However, many people are particularly aware of the topic because they have difficulty sleeping.

What is sleep

With the help of sleep diagnostics, doctors try to research the phenomenon of sleep. Doctors used to assume that the entire organism is in a reduced activity during sleep. Thanks to brain wave measurements, however, we now know that the brain also has a different functional state during this time.

Sleep is important for recovery and helps us when we are anxious, stressed or sick. Sleep also helps over a lot and is important for memory. The thought of being able to snuggle into bed after a hard day fills us with joy. We can hardly control the processes during sleep. When we get tired, the body signals that we need a break. Now it's time to sleep so we can regenerate.

In our sleep, however, we are not as idle as some believe. The brain and metabolism also work during sleep, albeit on the back burner. When we are overworked, the pineal gland shakes out the hormone melatonin, which prepares all body functions for sleep.

The energy expenditure and all functions are reduced. Even body temperature drops slightly, blood pressure drops, and pulse and breathing slows down. If metabolic products have accumulated during the day that need to be broken down, fatigue sets in.

Function & task

The sleep of a newborn is determined by its internal clock and is evenly distributed over day and night. The baby sleeps about 4 hours and is awake for 4 hours. With increasing age, the main sleep period develops at night. However, not everyone prefers to sleep at the same time. So there are night people and day people. The preferred sleep time remains constant throughout life. It is an individual characteristic.

Neuroscientists disagree about the function of sleep for the organism. We know that we cannot sleep ahead of time and that the longer we sleep, the more efficient we do. Some scientists believe that sleep is used to store memories, others suggest that its job is to erase them.

Sleep is particularly important for children's brain development. Cell damage is repaired, which is why the term 'beauty sleep' has a real reference. Those who sleep a lot feel more relaxed and more productive. Sleep ensures the strengthening of the metabolism and the immune system.

But at some point the amount of sleep is sufficient. We don't get healthier if we sleep more than we need to. Too much sleep can actually reduce life expectancy, recent research has shown.

Regardless of this, everyone has a different need for sleep. On average, an adult can get by on seven to eight hours of sleep a night. The need for sleep is genetically determined and can hardly be influenced from the outside. There are definitely people who can get by with five or fewer hours of sleep, others also need an afternoon nap to go to sleep at night.

A person has reached the optimal length of sleep when he is well rested but not tired. During night sleep, people 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.

You can find your medication here

Illnesses & ailments

If sleeping through the night is prevented, we feel exhausted the next day. While occasional sleepless nights are not harmful, permanent sleep deprivation has a significant effect on the organism and leads to vegetative and psychological symptoms. Affected people are easily irritable, have unstable breathing and a restless pulse. They become suspicious and may even hallucinate.

Many factors affect sleep. Illnesses of all kinds affect sleep. In the case of infections, we have an increased need for sleep and sleep has a health-promoting effect.

With increasing age, people 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 concerned. It is usually harmless.

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. Stress and emotional problems can be the cause. However, the older the children get, the rarer the nightmares are. Mostly the dreaming can remember the dream content very precisely after waking up. In the sleep phase, in which nightmares predominantly occur, the sleeping experience the dreamed extremely intensely. Psychotropic drugs can also lead to nightmares, and post-traumatic stress disorder often manifests itself through recurring nightmares.

Some sleep disorders can even be life-threatening, such as sleep apnea. With this disease, breathing becomes weaker and weaker and sometimes stops. When the brain gets too little oxygen, sleep apnea wakes up. This can happen several times during the night.

How healthy our sleep is, however, does not depend on when we go to bed, but on the quality of the first phase of sleep. Poor mattresses, too much brightness, noise and medication all have an impact on sleep. Eating also affects sleep. However, many of these disruptive factors can be eliminated.