Sleep: Nature's Sweet Restorer

We all are, or should be familiar with Nature's 8 Doctors, as outlined in the Spirit of Prophecy. They include pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water and trust in divine power. Let's take a look at one of them--rest and sleep.

* Sleep is a great restorer of our sense of physical well-being and our psychological balance, and is indeed a basic biological need, just like food and water. Blissful sleep is that rejuvenating, recharging repose in which about one-third of our lives is spent.

* Proper rest and sleep adds years to the life as an important study has conclusively proven...Among other things, those who slept 7 hours a night were at the least risk from any form of cancer. --Vernon Foster, New Start, (Woodbridge Press, 1989).

* Most health care providers agree that many maladies they treat would get better on their own with proper rest and sleep, along with the other health principles. Sleep gives the system the boost it needs to overcome infections, etc.

* During sleep the body is replenished, waste products are removed and bodily systems are re-energized by the master glands.

* A growing number of studies point out that sleep keeps the brain nerve network up to par. Indeed, sleep puts the body and mind on a somewhat holding pattern whereby the self-healing mechanisms work on whatever is damaged or worn out. There is growing evidence that sleep bolsters the immune system and sharpen the mind. --American Health, April 1996.

* Nutritional consultant, Brigitte Mars points out that during sleep the bone marrow and lymph nodes produce substances to empower our immune systems. It is during the beginning or our sleep cycle that much of the body's repair work is done. Indeed, Inspiration points out that "two hours of good sleep before twelve o'clock is worth more than 4 hours after twelve o'clock." --Ellen White, 7 Manuscript Releases, p. 224.

* An aritcle in the April 1999 issue of Our Firm Foundation, showed that the lion-sized share of the repair hormones produced by the body are produced before midnight. Phylis Austin, et al, writing in Fatigue: Causes, Treatment and Prevention, also informs us that sleep before midnight is more likely to result in growth hormones, which are not only vital to children but give ambition and energy to adults.

* Not getting enough sleep can age you prematurely and promote serious illness, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. They found biological signs of "accelerated" aging in healthy young men after less than a week in which they only slept 4 hours a night. Changes in the young men could foster diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and memory loss. They also found that serious sleep loss "might predispose you to getting even diseases that are known to be genetic." --USA Today, Oct. 22-24, 1999.

Getting an adequate amount of sleep and rest is proving to be a vital part of healthful living. Make sure that you get your share!

Suzanne

Sleep Helps Us Lose Weight

A sleep researcher, Dr. Eve Van Cauter, of the University of Chicago, in an article in the British medical journal, "Lancet," pointed out how adequate sleep helps one lose weight.

Dr. Van Cauter's team studied the effect of varied amounts of sleep in 11 healthy men, ages 18 to 27. The men spent 8 hours in bed during the first 3 nights, 4 hours per night for the next 6 nights, and 12 hours per night for the remaining 7 nights. Just one week of sleep deprivation revealed that the production of the growth hormone that helps control the body's proportion of muscle to fat was reduced. This hormone is secreted mostly during the first round of deep, slow-wave sleep (to a greater extent in men than in women). This hormone is extremely important in controlling body weight. When the body produces less of this hormone, there is a tendency for the body to store fat. Depriving ourselves of proper sleep limits the production of this hormone. Also, as we age, the time we spend in deep sleep lessens, making it even more imperative for us to get the sleep we need.

Another hormone that is affected by the amount and quality of sleep we get is leptin. This hormone plays a large part in our ability to control how much we eat. Leptin is the hormone that gives the body the signal that you've eaten enough; it's what tells us that we feel "full." Dr. Van Cauter's study revealed that sleep deprivation causes leptin levels to be reduced. This causes our bodies to crave more food even though we've consumed enough calories. Unless we can burn these excess calories, they will be converted to body fat.

As a result of sleep deprivation, we make the task of controlling our weight even more difficult--we begin our day fatigued. In his book, The Promise of Sleep, Dr. William C. Dement writes that when people are sleep deprived, we lack energy during the day. This lack of energy means that not only do we accomplish less, we also don't burn many calories. The body reacts to this by hoarding calories as fat, making weight loss quite difficult. --by Jacqueline Swenson, SleepSoundly.com.

Isn't this interesting folks? Just another reason for us to get an adequate amount of sleep.

Suzanne

I recently read an article that said we should change our pillows if we are having trouble sleeping. Indeed, it wouldn't hurt and might help. Many use their pillows for years without changing them, which brings me to my next point:

Bugs Can Lurk in Your Pillows

Your pillow may be filled with harmful fungi! Researchers at the University of Manchester in England examined both synthetic and feather pillows that had been used from 18 months to 20 years and found every pillow held a "substantial fungal load" of between four and 16 species that can worsen sinus and asthma problems and cause infections in transplant patients. And can also contribute to insomnia. Feather pillows had fewer varieties of fungi than synthetic pillows.

Suzanne

Sleep Longer, Live Longer!

Those with insomnia should do whatever is necessary to get a good night's sleep. Indeed, don't forget to pray about the matter... Medical researchers warn that getting too little sleep can kill you. People who cut their sleeping from 7 hours a night to 5 or less face nearly double the risk of death from all causes--and more than double the risk of death from heart disease.

"Over 40% of the population in the U.S.(and Canada) regularly sleep less than 5 hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," notes Dr. Francesco Cappuccio, a heart disease expert who headed a study of the problem. British researchers focused on the sleep patterns of 10,000 government workers over a 17-year period. "Our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around 7 hours per night is optimal for health," says Dr. Cappuccio.

Suzanne

Toss and Turn...Off Your TV

Want a good night's sleep? Try cutting back on nighttime TV and computer time. Heavy users of electronic media right before bed (3 and one half hours or more) were almost twice as likely to report poor sleep quality than lighter users (2 and one half hours or less)--despite getting about the same amount of nightly shut-eye, found a study of over 5,500 adults at Japan's Osaka University. To ensure a good night's rest, spend more time reading before bed, and record shows to watch earlier in the day. --Prevention, January 2008.

Suzanne

To Fall Asleep Fast

"This bedtime breathing strategy relaxes the entire body to accelerate the arrival of slumber," says Kazuko Tatsumura Hillyer, Ph.D., founder of Okido Holistic Health Center in New York City. "In fact, I've even seen women with chronic insomnia fall asleep almost immediately."

To do: At bedtime, lie on your back with your legs straight and slightly apart, arms at your sides withi palms facing up. Exhale fully yet gently, as though you're trying to make the flame of a candle flutter. (Your belly should visibly fall.) Next, inhale through your nose, feeling your belly rise. Hold your breath for a count of five, then release. Repeat until you drift off to sleep.

Why It works: Breathing deeply while in a supine position signals the brain to generate sleep-inducing alpha waves, according to studies at Cornell University and elsewhere. This simple technique has also been shown to hinder the body's overnight production of "wake up" hormones like cortisol by 51% or more. Adds Hillyer, "Exhaling fully before inhaling also primes the lungs for greater intake. This physiological change signals the brain that it's time for sleep." --First, February 16, 2009.

Suzanne

Reach the Deep-Sleep Zone

Say good night to poor sleep. Women age 60 and older who walked, etc. for at least an hour, 4 times a week, woke up half as often and slept an average 48 minutes more a night than sedentary women, according to a study in the journal Sleep Medicine.

That's good news for the many women who toss and turn more as they get older. As we age, sleep patterns start ashifting, so we spend more of the night in lighter sleep phases, according to Shawn Youngstedt, PhD, an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.

Aim to exercise for at least half an hour, even if it's after a long day. Evidence suggests that for most people, light to moderate activiaty in the evening won't disturb sleep, though trial and error will tell you what works for you. --Prevention, February 2009.

Suzanne

Sleep Protects the Colon

Those who log in less than 6 hours of shut-eye a night are as likely to develop the type of colon or rectum polyps that can turn into cancerous tumors as people with a family history of colon cancer or who eat a diet high in red meat, according to a new study in the jounal Cancer.

Suzanne

Again, interesting posts on sleep.

Where do you find all these things, or dare I ask?

Snooze or Lose

Study finds the sleep deprived age faster

A good night's sleep isn't just refreshing: New research shows that lack of sleep ages the brain. Researchers asked study participants how much sleep they were getting--first as a baseline then 5 years later. Those whose sleep decreased during the 5 years showed an accelerated mental decline during cognitive testing that was equal to an extra 4 to 7 years of aging.

"Sleep regenerates neurons that enable the brain to function optimally," according to lead author Jane Ferrie, PhD., senior researcher at University College London Medical School. Surprisingly, the study found that those whose sleep increased during the 5 years also exhibited cognitive decline, possibly due to depression, heart disease, or some other illness. So what's optimal? 6 to 8 hours--consistently. --AARP, Sept.-Oct. 2011.

Suzanne

Comment: Br. Daryl, I read many, many health magazines each month, always on the lookout for health tidbits that we SDAs can use. Love it!!!!

SS

Think of sleep as a form of nourishment, don't let yourself go hungry. --Whole Living, October, 2011.

Suzanne

Sleep duration directly linked to heart disease risk

by John Phillip

(NaturalNews) A startling number of people take a good night sleep for granted, despite the mounting body of evidence to support a restful sleep between six and eight hours every evening. In the past, studies have made a loose correlation between the numbers of hours of sleep each night and risk of diseases ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease and dementia. Researchers from the University of Chicago are presenting the result of a study to the American College of Cardiology that explains a direct link between sleeping a minimum of six hours each night and dramatically increased risk of stroke, heart attack and congestive heart failure.

The study team found that individuals sleeping much more than eight hours each night had a significantly higher prevalence of chest pain or angina and coronary artery disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. The bottom line is simple: controlling the duration of restful sleep in a totally darkened room is a modifiable risk factor that can significantly reduce risk of heart diseases and related chronic illnesses.

Sleeping Less Than Six Hours Each Night Doubles Heart Attack Risk

Researchers examined 3,019 patients, aged 45 years or older participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, designed to assess a broad range of health issues. The study showed that people getting less than six hours of sleep each night were two times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack and 1.6 times more likely to have congestive heart failure. Conversely, those individuals that slept more than eight hours a night were two times more likely to have angina and 1.1 times more likely to have coronary artery disease.

Clearly the duration and quality of sleep is an identifiable risk factor for heart disease, robbing your health in a similar manner to poor dietary choices and lack of physical activity. The principal study investigator, Dr. Rohit Arora commented "We now have an indication that sleep can impact heart health, and it should be a priority... based on these findings, it seems getting six to eight hours of sleep everyday probably confers the least risk for cardiovascular disease over the long term."

While this research did not directly determine how sleep duration affects heart health, past studies have implicated hyper-activation of the sympathetic nervous system, glucose intolerance, diabetes, increased cortisone levels, blood pressure, resting heart rate and inflammatory markers, all known risk factors for increased risk of cardiovascular disease. As researchers continue to determine the link between sleep and heart disease, the message is clear: ensure a restful sleep between six and eight hours each night in a fully darkened room to dramatically lower heart disease risk.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120326113805.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/acoc-stm032512.php
http://health.usnews.com
http://news.yahoo.com

Suzanne

Get more sleep and significantly lower your risk of stroke and heart disease

by John Phillip

(NaturalNews) A rapidly growing number of health-minded individuals understand that vascular disorders including stroke and heart are largely the result of preventable lifestyle practices that combine to dramatically increase risk of disease. Most people know that a natural diet of healthy, fresh greens, nuts and seeds alter genetic expression to maintain vibrant health. It is less known that sleeping fewer than six or more than nine hours each night increases the risk associated with these potentially deadly conditions.

Increasingly, adults are becoming overworked and more stressed due to workplace and family life circumstances. In addition to following a poor diet, these individuals tend to sleep less and unknowingly place themselves at greater risk for reduced quality of life and an early death. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have published the result of a study in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine journal that explains how sleeping fewer than six hours each day increases the risk of stroke symptoms among middle-aged to older adults who are of normal weight and at low risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Short sleep duration is a significant modifiable risk factor for stroke and cardiovascular disease

To conduct the study, researchers followed 5,666 individuals for three years to see what role a lack of sleep had on stroke risk. The participants had no history of stroke or ischemic disease, and the scientists adjusted for body-mass-index to account for any weight disparities among the participants. The study team recorded the first stroke symptoms, along with demographic information, stroke risk factors, depression symptoms and various health behaviors.

Researchers found that taking fewer than six hours of sleep each night was strongly associated with a greater incidence of stroke symptoms for middle-aged to older adults, even beyond other risk factors. The lead study author, Dr. Megan Ruiter noted "In employed middle-aged to older adults, relatively free of major risk factors for stroke such as obesity and sleep-disordered breathing, short sleep duration may exact its own negative influence on stroke development."

Insufficient sleep patterns or excess sleep (defined as fewer than six hours or more than nine hours each night) is now seen as a modifiable risk pattern exerting as much influence on disease outcome as diet, physical activity or smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. Dr. Ruiter concluded "These results may serve as a preliminary basis for using sleep treatments to prevent the development of stroke." In addition to following your healthy lifestyle, be certain to closely monitor daily sleep habits to significantly lower risk of stroke and vascular disorders.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=1818
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611092341.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-06/aaos-tro053112.php
http://www.medicaldaily.com

Suzanne

The comments made above are well documented for people with OSA.

However, CSA (Central Sleep Apena) occurs much less than OSA. In contract with OSA which has been well studied, CSA remains in many ways a mystry with more limited means of treatment than its better known cousin, OSA.

If you think that you may have one of the forms of Sleep Apnea, talk to you MD. To be properly diagnosed you will need to spend the night in an approved sleep laboratory hooked up to various mechanical devices.

If you are fortunate to have OSA, your MD may be able to chose from a number of treatments. If you are obese (a common cause) that will be a primary focus. If ther is another reason for your OSA, treatment will likely be available for that. OSA can be curable.

If you have CSA, it may not be curable and you may have to settle for a reduction in symptoms.

NOTE: I have been diagnosed with CSA and will be in treatment for the rest of my life as reduction in symptons is the best that can be expected for me.

Great topic Suzanne. I have always said I HAVE to have my 8 hours of sleep. Of course there are times when I do not get that but very few times. The last few years however are not being kind to me. I still get my 8hrs. sleep but I wake up every two hours to use the rest room and drop right back to sleep. Wonder if it is because of lack of exercise that is making by bladder not hold through the night? Just can't seem to get in the habit of walking. Something always happens. I work graveyard now from 11pm to 7am. Get home and by the time I change out of my uniform I am just not ready to put shoes and clothes back on to walk. I am going to have to do it though. With the new post I have it ia all sitting and I have also gained alot of weight due to no exercise. I sure do agree with all the sleep articles you have posted.

Thank you Suzanne for all the articles. I have just reread all of them.

I'm 100% in agreement with everything Suzanne has presented here. This is a great subject for discussion.

I'm guessing there are many who want to sleep more hours, but find they just can't drop off to sleep as they did when they were younger, or wake up after a couple hours and can't get back to sleep.

Is it these computers and all the electronic buzz our brains and nervous systems have to deal with that's making it so hard to tune out at night?

I'm going to start with the deep breathing!

Thanks for sharing this with us.

How many of us actually have a good sound sleep each night, as in sleep well at night?

New research suggests that sleep plays a vital role in brain health, with sleep deprivation being conducive to brain tissue loss

by Josh Anderson

(NaturalNews) The importance of sleep in relation to physical health is well known. Too little sleep has been linked to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents. It is recommended that adults sleep seven to nine hours per night, but 30% of the United States population doesn't get sufficient sleep. When it comes to brain health, recent research indicates that a good night's sleep can be important in strengthening our brains' connective tissue, processing memories and maintaining a healthy brain by preventing brain tissue loss.

The importance of sleep to brain health

In children, sleep is very critical in brain maturation, with connective tissue strengthening between the left and right hemisphere of the brain during sleep, according to a University of Colorado Boulder study. This study, which was conducted on children two, three and five years old indicates that sleep is linked to brain development by strengthening the bonds between the two hemispheres.

Likewise, in adults and even more in children, sleep has been linked to processing and storing what we have learned and encountered during the day by a University of Tubingen study. During sleep, materials that we have learned during the day are stored as long-term memories, making future learning easier. The study looked at the memorization capabilities of children between the ages of eight and 11 and young adults by showing them a series of actions and then either having them sleep for a full night or stay awake for an entire day. The group that slept was significantly better at remembering the previous tests than the group that stayed awake. Not only that, but children were significantly better at remembering than the young adults. It is important for all of us and especially children to get a full night's sleep to store our memories.

Lastly, recent research by Uppsala University in Sweden indicates that sleep deprivation can lead to brain tissue loss. In a relatively small study (n = 15) a group of healthy, young men were sleep-deprived for one full night and then slept for eight hours a different night. Following sleep loss, the men's blood concentration of two molecules typically found in the brain (NSE and S-100B) were significantly increased compared to after a normal nights sleep. The rise of these molecules typically is witnessed during brain damage and brain degeneration, indicating that sleep deprivation may induce brain tissue loss or neurodegeneration. A normal eight hours of sleep per night could be critical in maintaining a healthy brain.

Ways to improve your sleep

Several 2013 studies have demonstrated several ways to improve your sleep. A University of Florida and Research Triangle Park study indicated that smokers sleep substantially less than non-smokers, and those who quit smoking significantly improved their sleep. The study estimated that each cigarette smoked equated to a 1.2 minute loss in sleep. Likewise, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine illustrated that late afternoon caffeine (even six hours before bed) can disrupt your sleep. In fact, two-three cups of coffee six hours before bed are enough to significantly reduce total sleep time by more than an hour, without the study participants even being consciously aware of the disturbance in their sleep. The authors suggest avoiding caffeine after 5 pm.

Lastly, a Mayo Clinic study has demonstrated that the use of smartphones or tablets before bed doesn't have to disrupt your sleep. The bright light emitted from tablets and smartphones has been thought to interfere with melatonin (hormone that regulates natural sleep patterns), therefore causing sleep disruption. This study found that using your tablet or smartphone on a low- to mid-level brightness setting and holding the device at least 14 inches from your face did not cause sleep disruption. The low- to mid-level brightness at that distance is not enough to disrupt the melatonin cycle and therefore your sleep.

Sleep's importance in physical health is apparent, and its significance in brain health is equally as important. Individuals who sleep less than five hours or more than nine hours per night were more likely to identify themselves as being of lower overall health, indicating that we need to sleep within the nightly sleep recommendations. Getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep nightly can help strengthen brain connections (especially in children), turn what we learned during the day into long-term memories and help us maintain a healthy brain!

Sources for this article include:

http://www.colorado.edu

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://www.sciencedaily.com

http://www.alphagalileo.org

http://www.tandfonline.com

http://www.aasmnet.org

http://www.mayoclinic.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

Suzanne