54 September 2014 www.womanthismonth.com If you are one of millions the world over who hate their alarm clock but love the snooze button, maybe it’s time to evaluate if you are getting enough sleep. Often considered a waste of precious hours, adequate sleep is actually important for the wellbeing and functioning of the body during the daytime. Lack of sleep can cause daytime drowsiness, lapses in attention, and hinders learning, creativity and multitasking. It’s no wonder that sleeplessness is also one of the main causes of fatal road accidents. Our experts explain the basics. Wide awake Our expert: Dr Ram Vatwani, neurologist at NeuroCare Sleep is a rhythm of the body’s biological clock. A disrupted biological clock causes excessive or no sleep. Lack of sleep doesn’t allow our cells to regenerate for the next day’s activities. It also leads to other neurological disorders. Insomnia is the difficulty of initiating sleep at night and is a sign of anxiety. If this continues over a period of time, it leads to chronic anxiety, relating to fears of the future concerning to one’s career, health and family issues. “Some patients can fall asleep easily but wake up in the wee hours of the morning. This is called early morning insomnia, which is a diagnostic criterion of depression,” says Dr Vatwani. Disrupted sleep can also be caused by amphetamines or stimulants, and severe jetlag. Melatonin is a natural over-thecounter supplement that helps regulate the biological clock for those who want to avoid the effects of jetlag. It is proven that lack of sleep raises the risk of heart attacks up to three times than someone with normal sleep. High blood pressure can disrupt normal sleep patterns, further raising the risk of heart attack. “Reduction of sleep by just two hours raises the risk of mortality by 1.7 times,” the expert says. “Over the years, lack of sleep due to incessant use of mobile phones and workaholism has a cumulatively devastating effect on one’s health.” LIFESTYLE | wellbeing Sleeping Beauty by BEHNAZ SANJANA In our quest to ‘do more’ in our lifetime, we tend to undermine our basic need of quality shut-eye time. There’s a reason it’s called ‘beauty sleep’; so stop making that dreadful mistake in your life — starting tonight!
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