Importance of sleeping

IT seems that drinking moderate amounts of yaqona is pretty harmless to the body.

But it is the side effect of lack of sleep that does the damage.

All living creatures sleep. Sleep is an absolute necessity.

Our bodies are tuned to sunlight and respond to the dark hours by signalling that it is time to sleep. As the sun rises we respond again and become awake. However, the modern world has made this rhythm more difficult.

What happens during sleep? Why is it so important? It is a fact that if we are continuously awake for more than a week or two we may actually die –– the body will give up.

Sleep keeps our brains healthy. During the day we accumulate a lot of experiences, a lot of memories of data and feelings. During sleep our brains remain very active, dealing with the events of the day, editing and storing memories (moving them from short-term to long-term storage) and putting them in order.

But only recently researchers have discovered another extremely important function of sleep.

During the day our brains are using a lot of energy, about 20 per cent of our intake.

Burning energy throughout the body produces a lot of waste products and these have to be removed from the body via kidneys and colon. The same must happen within the brain so that it can do its job the next day and not be poisoned by toxins.

It takes about eight hours for the brain to complete all its cleanup work with memories and waste products. This length of time is a lot more than most people allow themselves, especially the regular grog drinkers.

So what are the consequences of poor sleeping habits? Inadequate sleep has a lot of negative side effects.

In the short term these are poor performance, lack of concentration, slow reaction times and disorganised thinking.

Other serious events can follow: poor time management, memory lapses, accidents and injuries, behaviour problems in children, moodiness and irritability.

But I believe it is the long-term effects that are the most damaging: emotions are affected so that it is harder to deal with stress, leading to frustration and anger, unpredictable behaviour and substance abuse; thinking becomes confused, memory lapses occur, and self-control, decision-making and planning are difficult; the whole body is affected, with poor motor control, reduced immunity to disease (increased risk of cancer), cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and reduced liver functions.

The lure of the tanoa (or plastic basin) is very strong, but the consequences of the resultant lack of sleep are not well known. Those trying to combat NCDs make no mention of this.

So it seems that there is a great need for education about sleep if we are going to reduce the rate of NCDs and early deaths in Fiji.

Another group that is strongly affected is that of the children. Sleep experts recommend that school-age children (6-18 years) need about nine and a half hours of sleep a night in order to wake spontaneously in the morning and feel well-rested.

Sadly, when surveyed, most primary age children only average seven and a haif hours of sleep nightly. Keeping your child awake until late at night could be a form of abuse, preventing the development of a healthy brain.

We and our family will get enough good sleep each and every night if we: exercise during the day and experience natural light; set a healthy time for bed and stick to it; avoid big, heavy or spicy meals close to bedtime; avoid caffeine –– especially within six hours of bedtime (remember, chocolate also contains caffeine); avoid sleeping pills –– these do not allow normal sleep activities (see above) and should be used only in emergencies; know the side effects of medicines you may be taking; try to do without “siesta” or afternoon nap; avoid any “screen” watching late in the evening –– TV, computer and video games; try to have some “empty space” before bedtime –– relax.

Let’s have a healthy Fiji, body, brain, mind and spirit.

FERGUS GARRETT

Vatuwaqa, Suva

Usamate said our roads have outlived its purpose. What does he mean?

I believe that if nothing is done in the near future about our Fiji roads, then the present Government will be responsible for its own disaster.

VIJAY MAHARAJ

Sydney, Australia