The Importance of Sleep

Whilst we are given advice on what to eat to stay healthy and what exercise to do in order to maintain cardiovascular fitness, we are not given advice about the importance of sleep.

Research has shown that the brain regenerates and repairs itself during sleep. During the day the activity of the brain involves many chemical molecules termed ‘neurotransmitters’ which are used up during the course of the day. These ‘used neurotransmitters’ are believed to be ‘cleaned up’ during sleep.

When you do not get enough sleep it is thought that waste products in the form of these ‘used neurotransmitters’ tend to build up leading to the brain not being as efficient.

Research has also shown that the body will always attempt to ‘catch up on sleep’.

If you have not had your eight to nine hours of sleep during the week, the body will attempt to catch up on the missed sleep during the weekend so bringing the body back into balance.

It is important to ensure that we get enough sleep. So, for instance if you are getting up at six o’ clock in the morning it is important to have gone to bed by ten o’ clock the previous night so that you get the eight hours of sleep that the body requires.

Sleep is more important for young children as their brains are still developing and generally like young children it is a good idea to have a ‘going to sleep’ routine which involves having some time to relax before going to sleep and avoiding use of electronic devices in the bedroom.

Sleep is also more important for patients who have had a brain injury.

In the case of brain injury, as the brain has been damaged, the brain attempts to repair itself and it can only do this during sleep.

If sleep patterns are disrupted say due to anxiety or stress generated by the patient’s reaction to the brain injury, this is going to affect the ability of the brain to repair itself.

Ideally go to bed and wake up at the same time each day so that your body gets into a routine.

Ensure that you have good lighting (rather than dim lighting) during the day as this improves the robustness of your sleep/wake cycle ensuring you sleep better at night as well as ensuring that you are exposed to light in the mornings as this makes your body want to go to sleep earlier.

Exercise two to three times a week as this improves your circulation and physical condition.

More information about the importance of sleep can be found in the book ‘The Importance of Sleep’ by sleep scientist Matthew Walker.

Some excerpts from his book can be found by clicking on the following link, https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/pdf/MLP_Summer2012web.pdf the relevant pages being pages 16-21.