SLEEP DEPRIVATION KILLS!

Can sleep deprivation kill? The answer is yes! A research study using rats showed sleep can kill. The rats that were totally deprived of sleep died within two to five weeks whereas the normal lifespan of lab rats are two to three years. The sleep deprived animals develop sores , their body temperature dropped and immune system gradually failed making them susceptible to infection.

There are no reports of human death due to total sleep deprivation in scientific literature. However, records of Nazi death camp experiments during World War II indicated this is possible.

Research showed that our brain's ability to function quickly deteriorates when we are sleep deprived. Without the restorative powers of sleep, the brain works harder to counteract sleep deprivation effects, but operates less effectively. Cognitive function and memory are impaired.

The ability of the frontal cortex of the brain to control speech, access memory and solve problems is affected. This is because lack of sleep lead to impaired formation of nervous tissue and inability of the brain to renew and rewire itself properly. Sleep deprived people feel exhausted and fatigued, which affect their moods, causing depression, stress and anger. They lacked physical energy and concentration as well as have slower reaction time.

One study stated that people who sleep less than four hours per night are three times more likely to die within the next six years. There are various ways sleep deprivation kill you… know what they are so that you can take measures to avoid a premature end.

WAYS SLEEP DEPRIVATION KILLS

1. Speeds up diseases associated with aging

Dr. Eve Van Cauter found that regular lack of sleep can hinder metabolism and hormone production in a way that is similar to the effects of aging and the early stages of diabetes. They become less sensitive to insulin and Their Glucose metabolism fell by up to forty percent. She stated, “We suspect that chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as diabetes (type 2), hypertension, obesity and memory loss." There is decay or decline of body organs, bone and brain neurons etc. Therefore, they have a higher risk of dying prematurely from stroke, heart attack or kidney failure.

Our body also produces inflammatory substances when there is not enough sleep.

For example, Interleukin- 6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C- reactive protein (CRP) are relevant to many disease processes such as cancer, hardening of the arteries, arthritis, insulin resistance and heart disease.

2. Accidents

Very sleep deprived people can go into bouts of ‘microsleep’ when they dozed off for several seconds without realizing it. each year there are thousands of road accidents due to sleepiness while driving. Last year there were several well publicized fatal accidents involving long distance express buses in the country. investigation showed that the drivers have to drive long distance non-stop (including night time driving) on fixed schedules. Survivors said that the drivers looked sleepy and in some cases were driving erratically before the accident occurred.

Do you know that tired workers are thought to be responsible for many major disasters including the giant oil spillage of the Exxon Valdez, the nuclear meltdowns of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl? Sleep deprivation not only endanger the lives of affected individuals but innocent ones as well.

A Harvard Medical School study found that when medical residents reported working five marathon shifts in a single month lasting 24 hours or more each, their risk of making a fatigue-related mistake that harmed a patient increased by 700%. the risk of making an error that resulted in a patient's death shot up by 300%.

"Working for more than 24 hours is hazardous," concluded Dr. Charles Czeisler who was involved in the project.

3. Depression, personality changes and suicide

Frequent extended sleep deprivation can have very detrimental long-term effects on the mind. A long haul trucker revealed, “Many periods of sleep deprivation lead to hallucinations; truckers call it "seeing the black dog". Once started it never goes away.”

In a well documented sleep deprivation study on a man called Peter Tripp that involved rigorous scientific testing revealed the effects of long periods without sleep on a person.

Tripp stayed awake continuously for 8.4 days. Towards the end of the study, he experienced paranoia, hallucinations, and other symptoms that mimic those of psychiatric disorders. He recovered physically and The symptoms disappeared after he was allowed to sleep. However, Tripp’s family soon noticed a difference in his personality. His wife said he was moody and depressed. He fought with his boss and was eventually fired from his job. He went on to accumulate four failed marriages. Some said his prolonged sleepless stint messed him up.

The Peter Tripp study, as well as other studies on sleep suggested the relationship between depression and disruption in the circadian rhythm.

Depression can lead to thoughts of suicide. Several studies showed that depressed people have shorter life expectancies than those without any depression partly due to susceptibility to medical illnesses and suicide. Up to 60 percent of people who committed suicide have depression or another mood disorder. Another heightened risk is from cardiovascular disease. Depressed people have a 1.5 to 2 fold increased susceptibility independent of other known risk factors.

4. Weight control

Lack of sleep increases ghrelin levels, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Together with the reduction of leptin levels [see previous article] resulted in people overeating and weight gain. As you know excess weight increases the risk of atherosclerosis (clogging and hardening of arteries), hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. leptin deficiency [a consequence of not enough sleep] makes you more susceptible to infectious and inflammatory stimuli. Inflammation makes affected tissues more susceptible to damage.

For instance, damage to inner lining of the arteries can make having a heart attack more likely.

In conclusion, your body relies on sleep to function properly. Constant sleep deprivation will not kill you immediately; but when your body could not shut down during sleep to repair the wear and tear inflicted during the waking hours, eventually the damage and toxic waste will build up to a point that can incapacitate . then, you are more likely to succumb to common diseases due to lower immunity and develop chronic illnesses that can become life threatening.

LEPTIN: Appetite Regulator For Weight Watchers

Leptin (Greek leptos meaning thin) is a hormone released by your fat cells. When you are dieting or starving and lose fat, leptin levels drop. When you gain weight, levels rise. This hormone lets your brain know when you have consumed enough food or calories and should stop eating. It gives you a feeling of fullness and satisfaction after a meal.

Adequate sleep helps to maintain optimum levels of Leptin, so that you don't feel hungry before your body actually NEEDS to eat.

During sleep, melatonin interacts with insulin-stimulated leptin and causes a decrease in appetite.

both acute sleep deprivation and chronic partial sleep deprivation has a bad effect on leptin and interfere with your ability to know when to stop eating. Lack of sleep decreases leptin and increases ghrelin levels, (a hormone that stimulates appetite). Consequently, you end up feeling hungrier without really feeling satisfied by what you eat. The result is over eating and weight gain.

Leptin not only regulates your body weight but also blood cell development, white blood cell formation and immune function. It plays a central role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure through fat metabolism and helps to control appetite and metabolism via the brain's hypothalamus. It also modulates the immune response to atherosclerosis (clogging and hardening of arteries), which is a predisposing factor in overweight people.

Interestingly, while sleep loss contributes to lower leptin levels, which increase appetite and energy levels, obese people have high leptin levels but are insensitive to this hormone [leptin resistance]. Therefore, although obese people have high levels of leptin, this hormone does not suppress their appetite due to insensitivity to the hormone.

Researchers are conducting studies on using leptin to treat type 1 diabetes. A March 2010 study on animals showed that mice with type 1 diabetes treated with leptin alone or in conjunction with insulin did better than a third group of diabetic mice treated with insulin alone. The first two groups of diabetic mice have blood sugar that did not fluctuate as much, their cholesterol levels went down and they did not form as much body fat.

Leptin also plays a role in innate and acquired immunity. Its level increases significantly to protect you when you have infection and inflammation. More important, leptin deficiency makes you more susceptible to infectious and inflammatory stimuli.

Leptin deficiency also causes a defect in maturation of blood cell and production of cytokine (messenger chemicals).

This hormone also plays a role in the Central Nervous System’s control of immune response. When we do not get enough sleep, the number of white blood cells within the body decreases, as does the activity of the remaining white blood cells.

Therefore, get adequate sleep so that you have enough leptin to control your weight better, fight inflammation and diseases as well as regulate metabolism more efficiently.

CHEMISTRY OF SLEEP

Our body can assess external environmental conditions as well as internal needs and respond with the necessary chemicals – hormones, enzymes, steroids etc.

Let us explore some of these nighttime cocktail of chemicals that contributes to our health and well-being. Our body only secretes some of these nighttime hormones when there is darkness and we are in a state of deep sleep.

MELATONIN

Melatonin acts as an endocrine hormone that kick starts a cascading flurry of hormonal activities and processes while we sleep. It regulates sleep/wake cycle. this hormone is a very powerful antioxidant that mops up cell-damaging free radicals. When Melatonin meets a free radical, it transforms the free radical into another antioxidant, which in turn transforms other free radicals into antioxidants. The hormone also helps prevent tumor formation.

Melatonin tends to reduce any cortisol (dubbed the stress hormone) production at night. However, caffeine can increase cortisol and considerably reduce nighttime secretion of this powerful antioxidant.

SEROTONIN

Serotonin, the ‘happy messenger’ is produced in the brain but most of it is found in the gut (about 80%) and bloodstream. it is also found in the central nervous system (CNS).

this neurotransmitter (messenger) is believed to influence a variety of psychological and other body functions. Most brain cells are influenced either directly or indirectly by serotonin. In the CNS, it has various functions, including the regulation of mood, temperature, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, sexual desire and function and some social behavior. It influences some cognitive functions such as memory and learning .

Medication that targets Modulation of serotonin uptake is used to treat people with depression and Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Blood platelets store serotonin. It regulates bleeding and blood clotting as well as Aids wound healing.

In the gut, it is used to regulate intestinal movements. When irritants are present in food, more serotonin rushes to the gut to hasten its removal, resulting in diarrhea. Similarly, serotonin removes irritants from the blood through vomiting.

This hormone stimulates cellular growth to repair liver damage.

Serotonin controls the release of both insulin (regulates blood sugar) and IGF (regulates growth).

It may also control heartbeat and breathing.

TESTOSTERONE

Often called a male sex hormone, it is popularly associated with development of male organs and masculine characteristics. However, testosterone is produced by both male and female albeit at a significantly higher level by males. It is needed for growth of muscle mass and strength, increased bone density and strength as well as stimulation of linear growth and bone maturation.

During sleep, REM dream increases nocturnal testosterone levels.

Testosterone level is important for mental well-being. Its depletion is a normal consequence of aging. As a result, low levels of the hormone increases risk for the development of Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis.

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE [HGH]

The pituitary gland secretes Human Growth Hormone. Altogether this pea-size organ suspended just below the brain produces nine different hormones that regulate a number of essential physiological functions, including water and energy balance, reproductive activity and the workings of many other glands in the body.

Human Growth Hormone stimulates growth and cell reproduction, specifically growth of muscle (lean mass), protein synthesis and growth of internal organs (except the brain). It also promotes calcium retention, stimulates the immune system, and maintains the pancreatic islets, (which prevents diabetes and regulates the production of insulin). This hormone has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and reduces adipose (fat).

HGH is secreted during deep sleep. When the quantity of deep sleep decreases, so does HGH. Researchers found that inadequate amounts of HGH could lead to reduced capacity to replicate cells by the body, leading to loss of muscle mass, decline of organs and bone.

The relationship between the secretion of HGH and a state of deep sleep is an interesting factor. Some people propose that if we sleep better, we will age slower.

BENEFITS OF SLEEP

When night throw its dark cloak across the sky, our brain starts to send out chemical messages throughout
the body, signaling it is time to sleep. A dramatic, swift switch from the daytime hormonal cycle occurs, to be replaced by nighttime hormones. Melatonin, (the hormone of sleep) kick starts the process. As this hormone buildup overwhelms us, we begin to feel drowsy and slide into unconsciousness. We may be oblivious to the world, but our body is busy repairing the wear and tear both mentally and physically inflicted during our waking hours. Sleep is vital in maintaining optimal levels of cognitive skills (memory, speech, sense of time, critical thinking and planning) as well as enabling our body to detoxify and do critical cell repair and renewal. A restful night of good quality, uninterrupted sleep will bring many benefits:
• Aids brain development
• Improve decision making due to Clearer thinking
• Improve Concentration
• Improve memory function
• Improve learning
• Improve creative, flexible thinking
• Improve mood
• Repair and renew body tissues
• Improve immunity
• Help regulate hormonal functions
• Help Maintain proper metabolism
• Help maintain balanced equilibrium of substances in the blood such as sugar, potassium, sodium etc.
• Normalize appetite leading to better weight management
• Normalize color perception

RHYTHMS OF SLEEP 1B (Ayurveda & TCM Discoveries)

According to Ayurveda, sleep is not merely resting. Many critical tasks occur when we are asleep. proper sleep nourishes and revitalizes every tissue of our body, maintains physical and mental strength and enhances vitality.

When peering into the night sky, we notice the predictable changing phases of the moon each month. Our body also have a predictable daily cycle of changing phases [healthy women, like the moon, have their monthly phases]. each phase have its own unique characteristics and functions. Called doshas in Ayurveda, their names are vata, pitta and kapha. As we lay in slumber land, these three doshas take turns to renew and prepare our body to face a new day both mentally and physically. These unseen servants within our body work in four hourly shifts. The tasks they perform include neutralizing and processing toxins, replenishing energy to our different organ systems, processing memories and assimilating information.

When our routines are aligned with vata, pitta and kapha, our body will hum along smoothly and function properly.

On the other hand, the Chinese identified two hourly phases in our body. according to the Chinese, the natural vital energy [chi] that pervades the universe also courses through our body along channels called meridians. Chi circulates through the main meridians at a specific time of day and spends 2 hours in each one. Many of the meridian relates to internal organs. Therefore, if we wake up at a specific time each night, it probably indicates an organ is not functioning properly; there is imbalance with chi or an obstruction along that meridian.

Ayurveda share similar ideas. Each dosha has its own specific function. For instance, during Pitta time [10pm - 2am] There is repair and renewal of body tissues. Sleeping through Pitta time segment is most rejuvenating. In the next article, you can find out the various metabolic processes going on under ‘Chemistry of sleep’.

If you stay awake at this time, you will have a burst of energy from Pitta’s activities and feel awake until the early hours of the morning. That may sound very good if you are cramming for an exam the next day. However, a study comparing two groups of students with one group studying late into the night and another group waking up early to study found that the group that study late into the night perform more poorly than the group that studied in the early morning in the exam.

Therefore, if you want to perform well mentally, give your brain a good rest and wake up refreshed early next morning to do your cramming. Your brain can retain information and analyze much better when it is fresh and well rested.

According to TCM, the Triple Warmer or Triple Energizer meridian is active from 9 p.n. to 11 p.m. and Liver meridian is strongest at 1 a.m. Both meridians are associated with ‘fire’ or heat. Staying up at this time will cause ‘fire’ or heat to rise upwards to the head. Therefore, the following day you may get heat symptoms such as nagging headache and red tongue. In more severe cases, you may even get fever and sore throat. In Ayurveda, Pitta is associated with the fire element. It is involved in metabolic processes. The meridians active during this Pitta time segment are related to metabolism, digestion and transformation, all of which are warm processes.

unlike Western medicine, in both Ayurveda and TCM, there is no one drug fits all. There are various causes for insomnia. It depends on which organ/meridian is in disharmony. Traditional healers prescribe herbs that treat specific problems and re-establish balance in the body and mind. Other complementary methods such as massage, aromatherapy or acupuncture may form part of the treatment regime.

In TCM, good quality sleep requires *the major organic meridians systems and **the fundamental substances in the body to be healthy and balanced not only according to season, but also by day and night changes as well.

After a good night of high quality sleep, we are fully recharged in mind and body. A good night’s sleep brings many healthful benefits including mental alertness, better problem solving capability, improved immunity and it is believed, longevity. Wow! Sleep can make us live longer? Amazing! The next article will explore the numerous amazing benefits of sleep.

* energy peaked for the following major organic meridians and they are most efficient between 9pm-7am: high triple warmer, gall bladder, liver, lungs, large intestine. * *The major fundamental substances are Chi (vital energy), blood, Yin, Yang, Jing (essences/secretions: hormones, digestive juices, semen etc.) and Shen (spirit). The Triple Warmer is three regions in the body identified by the Chinese with glands and organs that produces chemicals such as hormones and enzymes etc.

RHYTHMS OF SLEEP 1A (Western Discoveries)

Early Man had learnt to live according to the rhythm of the seasons. They rise at the break of dawn and bed when night falls. It is at nighttime when we are asleep that our body spring-cleans itself both mentally and physically.

As night slid deeper into darkness, the dormant power of sleep is unleashed. The brain releases human growth hormone (HGH) to repair and regenerate our body tissues.

In the twentieth century, scientists uncovered the secrets of human circadian rhythm. This biological clock within our body coordinates and controls functions such as sleep/wake, body temperature, thirst and appetite. The circadian system measure and interprets the rhythms of night and day. the powers of light and darkness resets our body clock daily, influences our brain wave activity, hormone production, core body temperature and other biological activities.

As the heavens dimmed with the setting sun, our eyes detected the change and sent a message to our brain to release the hormone melatonin. This hormone is released at about 9 p.m. by the pineal gland to regulate sleep. Like the vampire Count Dracula, it seeps into your bloodstream in the darkness of night. When the light of day returns, it ebbs and hides in the pineal gland deep in the recesses of the brain.

A study by the Lighting Research Center in 2010 showed that Removing circadian light in the morning delays melatonin onset by 6 minutes a day, and receded a total of 30 minutes after five days. The research showed that students who experience disruption in lighting schemes in the morning consequently experience disruption in sleeping Patterns, leading to poorer performance and well-being.

In the later part of the twentieth century, scientists found that certain organs and cells in our body have more-or-less autonomous circadian rhythm that are independent of the master clock in our body. Traditional Chinese Medicine uses the information from these peripheral clocks to determine which organ or associated meridian in our body needs help as well as the best time to commence treatment. The Ayurveda healthcare system also linked sleep to the seasonal and daily rhythms of nature. In the next article we will look at the discoveries of these two ancient healthcare systems regarding sleep.

Natural Homemade Moisturizer Recipes

This is the forth part of the series, ‘GOOD SKINCARE NATURALLY’.  This series discusses the various skin types and provides recipes tailored to specific needs.

Among the various skin types, dry skin needs moisturizing most. A rich, nourishing moisturizer that protects the skin is most suitable for dry Vata skin type.

URL: http://jumblebox.webs.com/healthF/moisturize1.html

Sensitive skin needs moisturizer support as well. Cooling moisturizers that reduces inflammation is best for heat sensitive ‘Pitta’ skin type. When out in the sun, Pitta skin also requires a moisturizer with sun block capability.

URL: http://jumblebox.webs.com/healthF/moisturize2.html

Oily Kapha skin type is the most resistant to the ravages of the elements and premature aging. However, as one ages, there will be areas of dryness that needs lubrication with oil and other areas that can benefit from water-based hydration.

URL: http://jumblebox.webs.com/healthF/moisturize3.html