Experts warn that disruption of an individual’s natural sleep-wake cycle can lead to a reduction in lifespan and brain functions. This will not come as good news to new parents who are often disturbed at night, or people who suffer from sleep disorders or work on night call.
The human body works according to a natural 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, also referred to as a circadian rhythm, which controls body temperature, sleep/wake timing, and the way our organs and body systems work together, as well as our IQ. Past research has shown that irregular sleep patterns and shift work take a toll on even the healthiest person over an extended period.
Scientists have linked disruption of an individual’s natural sleep-wake cycle with reduced longevity and demonstrated it can actually cause ill health and cognitive impairment over time.
For example, studies have shown that when internal biological clocks in hamsters are out of sync with external rhythm regulators (i.e. light/dark), the heart becomes damaged and enlarged (cardiomyopathy), and the kidney tubules sustain significant scarring. Other studies have shown Cognitive decline in the elderly and may also be linked to poor quality of sleep in youth (July issue of Neurology 2007, researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Centre (SFVAMC). Experts have also shown that the grogginess you experience in the morning may be due to the part of your aleep cycle you were disturbed in (August issue of the Journal of Biological Rhythms)
Dr Stephen Oluwole, a neurologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said that one’s quality of sleep can affect one’s cognitive skills, adding that studies have shown that those that have enough sleep are better in school than those who either sleep too much or too little. He said that the body has an optimal number of hours of sleep that it needs. If it is too long, the individual wakes up drowsy and fit is too short, he wakes up not feeling fresh.
People that snore are at risk in that the respiratory tract is blocked during certain periods and so leading to a reduction in amount of oxygen available to the brain. This may lead to the functions of the brain getting impaired, thereby manifesting in different ways, such as drowsiness during the day, reduced reaction time and memory impairment.
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