Sleep And Health

2009

Sleep and Health

Ayurveda Concept of Sleep

What is sleep? How does it occur? What is the role of sleep in health and in the treatment of diseases?.]

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Dr. Anantharam Sharma Page 1 Dr. Prathibha C.K

Department of Panchakarma Amrita School of Ayurveda

Sleep and Health

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leeping For Health

What is sleep? How does it occur? What is the role of sleep in health and in the treatment of diseases? Many attempts have been made in this direction since time immemorial. Indians had a deep and clear idea regarding the sleep which is highly relevant in this modern era. In Ayurveda, Yoga and Upanishad literature, sleep is considered as one of the essential function of the living organisms. Ayurveda has recognized Nidra (Sleep) as one of the most important dimension of health associated with happiness and good health and is an outcome of relaxed mental state. For the living beings in this world, sleep is an essential phenomenon for maintenance and restoration of both – body and mind. Maharshi Patanjali in yoga Sutra gives the perfect definition that – “Sleep is the mental operation having the absence of cognition for its grasp or sleep is a state of unconsciousness, but the consciousness remains about his own unconsciousness”. Similarly ancient Indian sages have observed that, not only animals but plants also enjoy relaxation in the night by closing the petals of flowers, at the time of sunset and reopening in the next morning. Duration of sleep required varies from person to person, depending on their Prakruti (Body Constitution), age sex etc. Ayurveda says that persons having Kapha Prakruti need more sleep, Pitta Prakruti needs moderate and Vata Prakruti needs less sleep. Most people generally need seven to nine hours sleep. Studies indicating that an increased risk for disease starts to kick in when people get less than six or seven hours sleep.

What is sleep? Sage Charaka explained that when the mind as well as soul gets exhausted and sensory and motor organs become functionally inactive then the individual gets sleep. The modern chemical theories can be correlated to these Ayurveda concepts to some extent.

Three Sub Pillars of Life The great seers of Ayurveda have considered the ‘Nidra’ as one among the three sub-pillars of life. The others are • Aharam - Food and • Abrahmacharyam - Healthy Sexual life

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Sleep and Health

State of mind Yoga literatures disclose the different states of mind and understand it as, • Jagruth - Conscious state • Swapnam - Dreamy State • Sushupthi - Perfect sleep

Jagruth It is the state of mind when almost all the voluntary actions are happening. Here the person will be conscious and both motor functions and sensory perception occur.

Swapnam This is the state in between the conscious state and perfect sleep. In this state there will not be any sort of sensory perceptions or motor functions, but of course subconscious mind may be getting the stimuli’s.

Sushupthi This is also called as Nidra. It is the complete state of inactiveness of the senses. In this state both body and mind will be in relaxed state.

Benefits of sleep When the sleep is practiced wisely it gives many beneficial effects at the same time when it is used with out any discrimination it produces many health hazards. In Ayurveda literature Happiness and Un Happiness, Nourishment and emaciation, Strength and weakness, Virility and impotency, Knowledge and ignorance (Intellect) and even Life and Death itself are enumerated as the effect of sleep. This is found true even in the present scenario as the research works done in the different parts of the world shows the ill effects of the loss of sleep/ improper sleep. Sleep at the night time makes for the balance of the body constituents (Dhatusamya), alertness, good vision, good complexion and fired digestive power. Acharya Sushruta described that, those who take proper sleep in proper time will not suffer from disease, the mind of them will be peaceful, they gain strength and good complexion, good virility, their body will be attractive, they won’t be lean or fatty and they live good hundred years.

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Sleep and Health Sleep can be considered as a food itself and at the same time a complex process which enables the body to feed up on its reserve energy, there by strengthening and building itself and at the same time storing the more power. Many cases of under nourishment or malnutrition are due fundamentally to excessive loss of sleep. The digestion become chronically impaired through lack of rest and perfect assimilation is impossible; thus, the body already tiered and improperly rested, becomes drawn and haggard because it is in no condition to receive and distribute the nourishment taken to it. In India amongst the urban population there are high increases of obesity which is inversely proportional to the average number of hours that they are sleeping. Who sleep less than seven hours a night are significantly more likely to be obese. This may be possible due to the changes in the hormones that regulate appetite. One study conducted at Italy shows that night shift work may be directly responsible for increased body fatness and is indirectly associated with higher blood pressure levels and some features of the metabolic syndrome.

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ntellect and sleep

For a stable mind sound sleep is necessary. Sleep influences the mental stability, intellect, Social relations and even Perception. Both emotion and sleep are independently known to modulate declarative memory. Sleep also facilitates offline memory processing, resulting in superior recall the next day. Studies show that getting five hours of sleep a night for one week induces an impairment level equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1 percent; that’s considered legally drunk in most states. Loss of sleep, improper sleep or insufficient sleep may result in the impaired function of the intellect. Such person feels it hard to get concentration, difficulty in taking any important decisions, loss of memory and finds difficult to maintain a good healthy social relationships.

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ife – Death – Sleep

These three are interrelated; Ayurveda says that persons get proper sufficient sleep will have good health and less mortality rate. On the contrary, persons who do not have proper sleep will end up with death.

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Sleep and Health Researches has shown that People who do not get proper sleep or who shift their sleep schedules due to work, family or lifestyle may be endangering their health, people who slept the least appeared to be significantly more likely to die. People who work at night appear unusually prone to breast and colon cancer. It is found exposure to light at night reduces levels of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is believed to protect against cancer by affecting levels of other hormones, such as estrogen. Melatonin can prevent tumor cells from growing.

Day Sleep Most of the people have the habit of sleeping during the day especially an afternoon nap. Day sleep is considered as one of the main cause for the increase of the Kapha Dosha and Medo Dhatu. It may result in the obesity, gastric disorders and so on. A few set of persons only are allowed to sleep during the day time like Persons emaciated due to different causes, having indigestion, old aged, Children, Persons Having Less strength, After long travel, Who had lost sleep last night etc.

When should one sleep? Sleep at the end of the first one third of night is advisable means around 8pm to 10 pm is the right time to go to bed. Similarly one should get up early in the morning (Brahma Muhurtha) which makes him healthy. Ayurveda preach that one should sleep in the proper time only. Insufficient sleeping and sleeping on improper timings are likely to cause many illnesses and even death.

Improper sleep and health Hazards Sleep is considered as one of the Natural Urge which comes by itself and guided by ones own biological clock. Ayurveda point out few health Hazards caused due to the suppression of sleep, like Yawning, Drowsy all the day, Body ache, head Ache and diseases of eye. That is why; our sages have advised that a man should not suppress this natural urge. It is said that, employees are paid more for sleeping less. Recent studies indicate, failing to get enough sleep or sleeping at odd hours heightens the risk for a variety of major illnesses, including cancer, heart Dr. Sharma Ayurveda Series

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Sleep and Health disease, diabetes and obesity. One of the studies, involving more than 82,000 nurses that found an increased risk of death among those who slept less than six hours a night.

Sleep disorders and Ayurveda Most of the condition it is related with our lifestyle only. There are some other instances also found where sleep related disorders are present. It is known to Ayurveda regarding the different sleep disorders and termed under the heading Nidra Nasha, which may include sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy and chronic insomnia etc. All these conditions can be well managed with the grace of Ayurveda. There are a wide range of time tested therapies (both internal medications and external therapies) for the effective management of Sleep disorders.

Conclusion Ayurveda has recognized Nidra as one of the most important dimensions of health. The disturbance in sleep might be related to the life style, environmental influence, mental tension, changed food habits and day to day stress which ultimately disturb the psycho neuro biological rhythm of sleep. Ayurveda have long known that sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy and chronic insomnia, can lead to serious health problems, and that difficulty sleeping may be a red flag for a serious illness. Recent researches in this area prove all these facts. Ayurveda have a definite solution for almost all the sleep disorders faced by the modern world.

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