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Years ago, physician’s had a limited number of interventions to help patients who were ill. Yet, every physician of that era knew the value of three main interventions - healthy food, fresh air and restorative sleep. While none of us would want to return to those former years of limited medical therapies, it is important to understand these fundamental processes of health and healing.
Excerpt from
“Live Pain Free! 6 Steps to a Pain Free Life” by Dr. Pamela Avery
…” Sleep is essential for your survival. In fact, people who have a rare disorder and can never fall asleep have been known to die. While in general, sleep deprivation is not life threatening, it can rob you of your quality of life. Over time, sleep deprivation accumulates and begins to cause fatigue, muscle aches and pains, irritability, depression and anxiety. In addition, sleep deprivation impacts your nervous system making cognition slower, focus harder and it lessens memory. It also impacts motor performance as well as delaying reaction time. So it is important that each and every night you get a good sound night’s sleep. Most people require at least eight hours of sleep per night.
Physiology of Sleep
Sleep is that period of time where every cell, tissue, organ and bodily system begins the process of repair and restoration of cellular energy. During restorative sleep, your body temperature drops, allowing these processes to work quickly and efficiently. While asleep, your body produces proteins and enzymes that are part of the building blocks of new cells and tissues. These proteins and enzymes also act as repair mechanisms for your body, undoing damage done to your cells from stress such as ultraviolet light and toxins. Sleep impacts the production of several hormones of the body including insulin, inflammatory proteins, growth hormone, |
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