The Most Important Principles For Staying Young:

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

By, Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including:
YOU Staying Young . The Owner's Manual For Extending Your Warranty,
YOU: BEING Beautiful . The Owner's Manual to Outer and Inner Beauty And
YOU: Having a Baby : The Owner's Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy

  

         Our basic premise is that your body is amazing:  You get a do over: it doesn't take that long, and isn't that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you and then to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over your quality and length of life
 

          To summarize from last month: You want it. You need it. You crave it. The truth is that getting quality sleep is as important to your health and happiness as just about anything else. A lack of sleep puts you at risk for increased stress, drowsy driving, poor performance at work, mood issues, and many others.

          Teenagers need eight and a half to nine hours a night, us adults need 6.5 to 8 hours, and many of us don't get it. Now Sleep Q2: Why Go To Sleep?

          Sleep is actually a cool biological process and it's a little more complicated than just pulling the covers over your body and shutting your eyes,

          You fall asleep through the activation of a neurotransmitter called GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, for you spelling-bee champs. The reason you're not asleep right now (we hope) is that your hypothalamus--the director part of your brain--secretes a chemical called acetylcholine. When you're asleep for a long time, you experience a buildup of acetylcholine that wakes you up.

          That's how caffeine seems to work, by influencing levels of acetylcholine. In contrast, a chemical called adenosine accumulates with activity and hinders acetylcholine, so we become tired. As the day wears on, your sleep drive builds as acetylcholine and other chemicals that induce wakefulness decline.

          The other big chemical that affects sleeping patterns is melatonin, produced by the pineal gland in your brain. Your pineal gland senses when you're exposed to light, much in the way that a security-type light sensor does. Interestingly, the gland is nestled way deep in our brain, far away from any direct access to light. In humans, it senses blue light though special receptors in your eyes that don't provide vision but do dictate your circadian rhythms.)
Please Turn Over...

          When the lights go out, your pineal gland starts producing melatonin to help you sleep. The hormone exerts other effects too, like helping to control the desire for mating, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure, improving immune function, and relieving stress.

          Now, what exactly is a good night's sleep? While the length of sleep is important, equally vital is getting through the sleep cycle several times. The cycle is comprised of four stages, each getting progressively deeper. Each cycle (stage 1 through REM) lasts about 90 minutes; you go through four to six a night.  It's important that you achieve REM or dream sleep, to really feel rested. Dreaming is also important for your learning and peak creativity. People who have sleep problems often don't make it to REM sleep because it can take up to sixty minutes to get there.

          More on Sleep, sleeping medications and your questions in the next month's issue (in the meantime you can send questions to youdocs@gmail.com), but now a tip:
          Roizen Rule for A Younger You Tip: The pineal gland--the part of your brain that senses light and helps wake you--doesn't sense red light wavelengths, so if you like to sleep with a night-light on, get one with a red bulb.

        Young Dr. Mike


        Feel free send questions coming to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike.


        The YOU docs have  a new web site: YOUBEAUTY.com and a new book: YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens.    Thanks for reading.


About the author: Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is a professor of anesthesiology and internal medicine, and is is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. The Wellness institute also features Lifestyle 180 and the integrative medical clinics (with features of medical acupuncture, rekki, obesity management and more) of the Cleveland Clinic, both located at 1950 Richmond Road in Lyndhurst. He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner's Manual. He airs on WKH/1420 in Cleveland and 30 stations nationwide and streams on healthradio.net Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner's Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the new Dr Oz show-- The Dr. Oz Show" is number two in daytime TV now---see what's so much fun, and what he, the Enforcer is up to. Check your local listings or go to doctoroz.com for time and station ""And for more health info, log onto 360-5.com anytime.

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. This article is of the opinion of its author. Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.