Helping You Understand Sleep

Sleep has always intrigued scientists. Findings have shown that sleep may not be as restful as once thought. The brain experiences activity even when people are asleep that may be more active than what is experienced in waking hours. Understanding the patterns, disorders, lifestyle and environmental affect on sleep as well as the remedies for problems associated with sleeping can be the key to a restful sleep.

What is Sleep?

Sleep is described as the absence of consciousness. Almost all voluntary muscles are inactive and the body does not respond to stimulation. Sleep is not well understood and is still being researched extensively.

Babies and Sleep

Children, especially babies require more sleep than adults. A newborn will often sleep up to 18 hours a day. According to studies, a newborn can spend up to 9 hours in REM sleep. The rate decreases as the child ages and by the age of about five, only about 2 hours is spent in REM sleep.

Each baby develops a set of sleep patterns that often can become a problem. Establishing a sleep pattern that will allow the baby to get the proper rest is very important and should be started early. From newborn to about 3 months, the baby will wake for feedings, but after this time, they should begin to sleep through the night.

Sleeping through the night does not necessarily mean they will sleep for 8 hours at a time. Often this means only 6 hours and then they will wake for a feeding. However, by this time, sleeping 12 to 15 hours per day is typical, including naps. A normal sleep and wake pattern is generally established by this age.

Adults and Sleep

Most adults require between 7 ½ hours to 8 hours of sleep per night. However, this can vary from person to person. Many people sleep 9 hours per night while others only require 6 hours. This is thought to be partially due to genetics and heredity. There are also many things that can interfere with sleep, such as stress, sleep disorders and health problems.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the average sleep time reported by adults was 8 to 8 ½ hours. Today the average is 7 to 7 ½ hours. Lifestyle, including jobs, kids, social activities and more tends to put sleep on hold.

Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders can wreak havoc with the amount of sleep a person gets. This can include insomnia, sleep walking, sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome. Older adults often get less sleep due to aging issues or they may develop advanced sleep-phase syndrome. This interferes with the entire sleeping process and they go to sleep earlier and get up earlier. Waking many times during the night also interferes with sleep.

Sleep Environment

The environment in which you sleep can also affect the amount and the quality of sleep that you get each night. Trouble sleeping could be due to noise, an uncomfortable bed, a partner who snores and being too hot or too cold. This can result in not getting enough sleep and feeling exhausted all day.

Sleep Patterns

Sleep has been categorized into two types. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. REM sleep is experienced about 25% of the total time spent sleeping. This is when dreaming occurs and the skeletal muscles are so relaxed they seem to be almost paralyzed.

NREM sleep has three stages - N1, N2 and N3. N1 is when the loss of almost all awareness of external surroundings occurs. This is the transitional state between being asleep and awake. N2 is when all consciousness of the external surroundings disappears and accounts for about 45% to 55% of the total time spent sleeping. N3 is a deep sleep and is when sleepwalking, talking in your sleep, nightmares and even bed-wetting can occur.

Sleep Remedies

Remedies for sleep problems will involve a variety of options depending upon the type of problem, the severity and the person experiencing sleeplessness. For many a change in diet is recommended. For others it may be a physical, mental and lifestyle change that will provide the solution to allow healthy sleep to be achieved.

Issues related to trouble sleeping will be discussed throughout this website, including symptoms and treatments. An understanding of the factors that affect the quality of sleep may help when it comes to the choices that must be made to provide valuable and essential rest.

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