SLEE P TO G OO D HE A LTH
Effects of a sleep- deprived body The heart is a vital active organ of the body and is continually working, pumping life-giving blood to the whole body. It never rests. When we are stressed, it is also stressed. So whenever the body rests, the heart has a chance to take things easy and “rest”, reverting to basal functions – just enough to sustain life. Of course, it never stops pumping. This “rest” period happens when we are in our non-REM Stage 3 sleep. When we are deprived of sleep (insomnia), the heart has to keep pumping like normal. This gives rise to cardiac stress, as evidenced by elevated levels of all the cardiac stress hormones and inflammatory markers. We now know that people who sleep less than six hours a day have increased incidences of heart diseases, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Some clinical studies have also shown that those who sleep too long have an increased incidence of heart problems. It looks like seven to eight hours of sleep daily is ideal. The 2011 European Heart Journal review of 15 medical studies If it all sounds a bit confusing or farfetched, just remember involving almost 475,000 people found that short sleepers had a 48% increased risk of developing or dying from coronary heart that a good night’s sleep is the foundation to a strong heart and disease (CHD) in a seven to 25-year follow-up period (depending good health. on the study) and a 15% greater risk of developing or dying from Dr Ng Swee Choon is a consultant cardiologist at a hospital in stroke during this same time. Interestingly, long sleepers – those Petaling Jaya, and assistant clinical professor at UTAR. who averaged nine or more hours a night – also showed a 38% increased risk of developing or dying from CHD and a 65% increased risk of stroke. The association of hypertension and sleep deprivation is also rather strong. The August 30, 2011, issue of Time magazine and New York Times highlighted the fact that sleep deprivation was associated with a higher incidence of hypertension. The Sleep Heart Study (Arch Int. Med 2005) was a large, cross-sectional, community-based study of the Cambridge English for Life - Kelana Jaya commenced operations in 2011 and cardiovascular consequences of sleep disorder. The authors recently won the Most Promising Centre 2012 Award. In the ESOL 2012 assessed the relationship between reported sleep duration Exams, it achieved a 100% pass rate taking the Outstanding Achievement and impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes in more Award won by its KET student, Sanjeeva Ganesan from Bukit Bintang Boys than 1,400 men and women who had no history of insomnia. Secondary School, PJ. We provide quality English language education focusing After adjusting the age, sex, race, body habitus, and on the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing for all levels i.e. pre-school (4-6), primary (7-12), secondary (13-17), pre-U/college (18-21) and apnea-hypopnea index, the prevalence of impaired glucose adults alike, using imported British texts. In line with expansion plans, the tolerance and type 2 diabetes was higher in those who following positions are opening up in January 2014: reported sleeping six hours and less per night or nine hours and more per night. This was reported in the medical J O B V A C A N C I E S journal. I believe that these effects on hypertension and diabetes are due to the excessive release of stress hormones 1. English Language Teachers – Minimum TESL, TESOL or CELTAqualified, with at least a year’s experience of teaching English either and inflammatory markers in people who are sleep deprived. locally or overseas. Apnea is a sleep disorder characterised by cyclical noisy breathing followed by cessation of respiration. This cyclical 2. Centre Manager – Minimum SPM/STPM/Diploma/Graduates from breathing/apnea cycle may occur 10 to 30 times an hour any discipline. Good administrative skills with an eye for detail, and hence, these patients have almost no non-REM Stage self-motivated and proficient in Microsoft office. Candidates with 3 sleep. As a result, they wake up the following day feeling initiative and a command of Mandarin and local dialects would be exhausted, and falling asleep at meetings or while waiting an added advantage. at traffic lights. These patients have associated increased risk of Interested applicants can e-mail their resume and latest photo directly to the Centre Director, Ms Cheryl Lim at abundanz7@gmail.com hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. The condition can be remedied if the patient consults a Cambridge Kelana Jaya is professionally managed by: neurologist. English Edge Sdn Bhd [915671-A] Conclusion I have tried in this short article to give an overview of the importance of good sleep as well as the effect of poor sleep on the body, especially on the cardiovascular system.
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