Health Central Guide’s article titled “Insomnia 101” discusses the importance of a good night’s sleep. The publication informs us that “Sleep is as important to our lives as the food we eat and the air we breathe.”
The guide explains that we need sleep for repair and growth of the body, healthy brain function, and the strengthening of memories.
In normal sleep, a person cycles through rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. With eyes moving quickly back and forth, REM sleep produces the body’s dreaming stage where the brain is producing the consolidation of memories. First, however, to accomplish the deeply restorative REM sleep, you must go through the following stages of non-REM sleep. In each stage, a vital role occurs:
STAGE 1: Michael Breus, PhD., writes in his book titled “GOOD NIGHT: THE SLEEP DOCTOR’S 4-WEEK PROGRAM TO BETTER SLEEP AND BETTER HEALTH” that this stage becomes your first five to ten minutes entrance into light sleep.
STAGE 2: The actual onset into sleep occurs in this stage. Here you begin to separate your brain from your awake status. Physiologically, your breathing remains regular but your heart rate slows down slightly as your body temperature drops.
STAGE 3 and STAGE 4: This deeper level of sleep is known as delta sleep. Physiologically, breathing slows as the blood pressure drops and the muscles relax. These all-important stages produce the production of the pituitary growth hormone. The somatotropin hormone is responsible for proper development of the body as it builds and repairs muscle, bone, and tissues. This stage also has the chance to strengthen the immune system.
STAGE 5 / REM SLEEP: Dr. Breus tells us the interesting fact that “During sleep, the brain goes through a dance. It shifts from being awake to Stage 1 to Stage 2, Stages 3 and 4, and back to Stage 2, and then to (Stage 5) REM.” Lasting from 10 to 60 minutes, REM sleep usually takes place about 90 minutes after sleep’s FIRST stage. Each successive REM period gets longer in endurance. An average adult can go through a total of five cycles of non-REM and REM sleep each night in normal sleep.
The amount of sleep required by the individual can vary depending on many factors, such as age: Toddlers need 11 to 14 hours of sleep, Teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep, Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep, and Seniors (over 65 years of age) are okay with generally 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
