It’s been said that good sleep is the foundation of good health. For as much time as we spend sleeping (or wishing that we could fall asleep), the average snoozer is remarkably uninformed about what happens between the time one’s eyes close and the moment the alarm clock sounds the next day. For some people, falling asleep is as simple as turning off the lights and pulling up the covers. For others, going to bed is an arduous ordeal that starts with tossing and turning and finishes with a feeling of fatigue that can only be remedied by another night of undisturbed slumber.

While our sleeping hours occupy a seemingly uneventful part of our day, our brains are anything but dormant. The more we demand of ourselves during our waking hours, the more we need to recuperate and replenish our stores with a good night’s sleep. The consequences of insufficient rest not only affect our mood and our ability to concentrate, they hinder our well-being in a variety of ways, both physically and psychologically.

We’ve all been told at some point that we should get eight hours of sleep each night. In actuality, the hours of sleep an individual requires depends on many factors, including age and level of activity. But, whether someone needs seven or 10 hours a night, we all know that sleep is a vital part of daily life.

Still, with unprecedented numbers of people thrust into increasingly demanding lifestyles, sometimes the only way we can make more time in our day is by cutting out an hour or two of sleep. In response to life’s demands, it would appear that the trend in nightly sleep hours is headed in the wrong direction. For instance, 125 years ago, prior to the invention of the light bulb, the average American slept more than 10 hours each night. Now, the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America Poll reveals that the typical weeknight sleep total has dipped to 6.9 hours per night. And on the weekends, our sleep only hovers around the 7.5-hour mark. In fact, 15 percent of the population sleeps less than six hours per night.

In discussions about sleep, a term that comes up regularly is “sleep debt.” Just as our bodies require a certain amount of energy to do what we ask of them, they also have a minimum requirement for sleep, which is classified by experts as “sleep need.” When our sleep need isn’t met our bodies accrue a backlog of sleep. The analogy of a financial debt is used to convey the fundamental sleep principle that all lost sleep accumulates and must be paid back. For example, if the average person requires eight hours of sleep a night and only gets seven, after one week that person will have accumulated seven hours of sleep debt — a full night’s sleep short of what they required. The larger our sleep debt grows, the more likely we are to feel tired while we’re awake. Many people believe that simply entering into a cozy room or sitting down after a large meal makes them feel tired. In reality, this might just be an unmasking of the sleep debt they’ve accumulated. According to experts, if you feel drowsy in daytime hours, even during activities you find boring, you haven’t had enough sleep. Likewise, if you routinely fall asleep within five minutes of putting your head to the pillow, it’s possible that you have severe sleep deprivation, perhaps even a sleep disorder.

Following the convention of Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), Dr. William C. Dement, founder of the world’s first sleep disorder center at Stanford University, claimed that, “sleep debt and its consequences [are] the number one problem in America.” He wrote, “Carrying a large sleep debt has serious negative consequences for an individual and those with whom he or she comes in contact.” The consequences of sleep debt as Dement describes surface in negative interpersonal interactions and substandard functioning, which can pose a risk for everyone, especially those in hazardous situations. Dement continued, “Chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders are so pervasive in our society that sleepy behavior is accepted as the norm. Thus, it is considered normal to be drowsy in the early afternoon following the mid-day meal, to have some difficulty getting up in the morning and to be somewhat sluggish and unmotivated during the day.”
The harmful effects of poor-quality sleep have been a rich topic of study in recent years. Sleep specialists have identified more than 80 different sleep disorders afflicting people today. Four of these disorders are particularly prevalent and deserve examining a bit more closely. The first of these is sleep apnea. Of the estimated 70 million Americans who suffer from a sleep disturbance, 18 million suffer from Obtrusive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a potentially life-threatening breathing disorder characterized by repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep. OSA usually develops with age and as a person’s adipose tissue increases (muscle tone decreases). These bodily changes allow the windpipe to collapse during sleep, a time when the muscles of breathing relax.

During an episode of OSA, the afflicted person’s effort to inhale creates an area of suction that collapses the windpipe. This blocks the flow of air for 10 to 60 seconds, in turn causing blood oxygen levels to fall as the person struggles for breath. The brain responds by awakening the person just enough to tighten the upper airway muscles and open the windpipe. The person may snort or gasp, and then resume snoring. In the course of a night this cycle can be repeated hundreds of times. These frequent awakenings cause sleep apnea patients to feel perpetually sleepy and may lead to personality changes such as irritability or depression. Because OSA deprives the brain of oxygen, patients can experience morning headaches, a loss of interest in sex or a decline in mental functioning. OSA is also is linked to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke.

A second debilitating sleep disorder is narcolepsy, a life-long condition with no known cure. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes the disease as, “a disabling neurological disorder of sleep regulation that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness.” The disease usually surfaces in people between the ages of 15 and 30 and comes with four tell-tale symptoms: excessive daytime sleepiness; cataplexy, or sudden brief episodes of muscle weakness or paralysis brought on by strong emotions such as laughter, anger or surprise; paralysis upon falling asleep or waking up; and vivid dream-like images or hypnagogic hallucinations that occur at the onset of sleep. Medications can abate the symptoms posed by narcolepsy, and taking a few preventative measures like regulating sleep schedules, planning daytime naps and avoiding over-stimulating situations can enable people who suffer from narcolepsy to lead near-normal lifestyles.

The third condition, insomnia, is a short term condition that most people are familiar with. Up to 40 percent of the female population and 30 percent of the male population will suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives. The condition is brought on by everything from diet to stress and can be induced by jet-lag and other factors. Insomnia increases with age and can be the precursor to an underlying medical condition. Doctors, however, can effectively treat the condition with sleeping pills.

Lastly, restless legs syndrome (RLS), is a familial disorder causing unpleasant sensations in the legs and feet and an urge to move the limbs. RLS affects up to 12 million Americans of all ages but is most common in elderly people. In some cases, it may be linked to other conditions such as anemia, pregnancy or even diabetes. Many RLS patients also have a disorder known as periodic limb movement disorder or PLMD, which causes repetitive jerking motions, particularly in the legs. These movements occur in 20 to 40 seconds increments and result in frequent re-awakenings which make for a disjointed night’s sleep. In one study, RLS and PLMD accounted for a third of the insomnia seen in patients older than age 60.

However, it’s not just the elderly who have a hard time getting a good night’s sleep. Recently, Case Western Reserve University and the University Hospital of Tuebingen Germany published independent studies showing that 20 percent of children experience trouble sleeping and one in 10 children snore. Not surprisingly, children who have trouble sleeping are often times the same ones who have difficulty in school. In fact, Southern California’s NBC-4 recently ran a story about a young boy who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. His parents noticed that their son was snoring loudly at night and investigated the possibility that poor sleep could be the root of his behavioral problems and inability to concentrate in the classroom. After doctors preformed a sleep test measuring the child’s brainwaves, they quickly found that his enlarged tonsils were keeping him from getting the air he needed as he slept. Removing this child’s tonsils facilitated proper airflow, allowing him to sleep through the night, wake up rested and do what’s expected of him at school.
Athletes are another group for whom sleep is critical. Many competitive athletes report that they sleep poorly the night before an important event. Whether this is caused by nerves or by the fact that they’ve traveled across time zones to compete, it’s generally agreed that a poor night’s sleep is the first step to a poor performance on game day.

When athletes are involved in intense training, slow frequency brain waves produced in the third and fourth of sleep’s five stages, are particularly critical to their physiological recovery. During this slow-wave sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth-hormone that stimulates muscle growth and repair, bone building and fat burning. When an athlete loses sleep on an extended basis, the release of growth-hormone diminishes and performance can suffer. A University of Chicago Medical School test led by Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D showed that “After only one week of sleep restriction, young, healthy males had glucose levels that were no longer normal.” Glucose and its storage form glycogen are the main sources of an athlete’s energy and are particularly essential for endurance athletes, so their depletion can lead to hypoglycemia, or “bonking.”

Austin-area sleep specialist and Medical Director of the Bastrop Sleep Labs, Dr. Desmar Walkes, explains, “Sleep deprivation can adversely affect athletic ability via three basic mechanisms. The first and most obvious is by decreasing [the athlete’s] overall energy reserves. While this factor may be secondary to the ‘rest’ that the body also gets during sleep, there is a direct relationship to growth hormone secretion, which is key in somatic repair and may play a role in both fast- and slow-twitch muscle response.” She continues, “Secondly, musculoskeletal stiffness is associated with poor or restricted sleep.” Most people feel a desire to stretch their muscles after being awake and on their feet for prolonged periods of time; sleep counteracts this phenomenon. Finally, Dr. Walkes sites new evidence that indicates one’s pain threshold is lowered by sleep restriction. As both weekend hobbyists and professional athletes can attest, if an athlete is burdened by muscle aches and pains it can substantially hamper his or her performance in competition.

Dr. Walkes also explains that there are weight-loss benefits to getting a good night’s sleep. Aside from the fact that most people don’t consume calories during sleeping hours, sleep deprivation has been shown to make people crave simple sugars and carbohydrates. Moreover, as sleep deprivation increases, the body’s secretion of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate appetite, decreases.
What’s a busy person to do to maintain a healthy sleep schedule? Bastrop Sleep Labs suggests seven steps that can help regulate our sleeping and help us wake up feeling refreshed. First, stick to a schedule — try to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. Keep away from stimulants like caffeine which are known to delay sleep and increase your likelihood of being aroused in the night. Have a light snack before you turn in for bed rather than trying to sleep on an empty stomach. Use dimmer switches to control bright lighting around the house before bedtime. Don’t use your bed for activities that are better done at a desk; try to use the bed just for intimacy and sleeping. Keep the room at a slightly cool temperature, which is ideal for regulating a normal sleep cycle. Lastly, avoid exercise during the three hours leading up to bedtime. While a good diet and physical activity can enhance the quality of one’s sleep, it’s best to exercise in the morning or afternoon when you’re having trouble sleeping.

We all know that spending a few of hours away from life’s demands is a sure way to get back on your game. But, it doesn’t take a spa treatment or meditation session to feel this way. Just imagine how refreshed you would feel if you were able to dedicate one third of each day to rejuvenating yourself with sleep. Relaxation in such large proportions might seem like an unrealistic luxury, but that’s exactly the pampering our bodies would receive if we simply granted ourselves the sound night’s sleep specialists recommend. You might not think that you’re able to turn in when you’re tired, but then again, you might not be able to afford not to.