REM Sleep

Everybody has been experiencing this situation in their life. At some point, you are keeping on thinking and worry about something. You are too tense and anxious, so you go to bed exhausted, knowing that you really need sleep. But at the same time you cannot wipe off your worries from your mind and finally you lie awake most of the night. At that moment, you are actually experiencing insomnia.

What is sleep? All of us do it everyday in our life yet most of us know little about it. People used to think that sleep is a time of quietness, of inactivity but actually during sleep a lot of complex activity occurs both in the brain and in the body. Now that we have already know a little bit about sleep and let’s move on to the main topic which is REM sleep. REM sleep is known as rapid eye-movement which is one of the sleeping disorders that we are going to discuss. Rapid eye-movement sleep is a normal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes. Patients with rapid eye movement behavior disorder act out dramatic or violent dreams during rapid eye movement (REM) stage sleep. I bet every of us must have face this kind of sleeping disorder once in life. This REM sleep disorder also being called as parasomnia. This is the condition where it occurs during sleep and creates disruptive events. It is much similar to sleepwalking and periodic movement disorder.

During sleep, we usually pass through five phases of sleep which are stage 1, 2, 3, 4 and lastly REM sleep. Phase 1, is called light sleep where we can easily be awakened. At this part, our eyes and muscles move very slowly. After that we are entering the stage 2 of sleeping. At this moment the eyes movement is stop and the brain waves become slower which is called sleep spindles. Next is stage 3 where the extremely slower brain waves called delta waves begin to appear. At stage 4, the brain produces delta waves. At stage 3 and 4 it is very hard to wake up someone from sleeping is which is altogether called deep sleep. When we switch into REM sleep, our breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, our eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and our limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Our heart rate increases, our blood pressure rises. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales dreams. The first REM sleep period usually occurs about 70 to 90 minutes after we fall asleep. A complete sleep cycle takes 90 to 110 minutes on average. The first sleep cycles each night contain relatively short REM periods and long periods of deep sleep. As the night progresses, REM sleep periods increase in length while deep sleep decreases. By morning, people spend nearly all their sleep time in stages 1, 2, and REM.

Next we move on to the REM sleep disorders or symptoms that create REM sleep. The main symptom that you are actually experiencing REM sleep disorder is dream-enacting behaviours which sometimes violent that cause self-injury or injury to the bed partner. These behaviours might include punching, kicking or jumping from the bed while still asleep. Usually when a person is experiencing REM sleep disorder he or she may be awakened or awake spontaneously during the attack and recall the dream that correspond to the physical activity. Besides that, this situation always happens at the second half of night sleep. REM sleep in adults typically occupies 20-25% of total sleep, about 90-120 minutes of a night’s sleep. During a normal night of sleep, humans usually experience about 4 or 5 periods of REM sleep; they are quite short at the beginning of the night and longer toward the end.

There is solid research evidence that your sleep may be affected by what you eat. People tend to have a large and heavy dinner shortly before bedtime and that is the indication towards a bad night’s sleep. Instead, to ensure sound sleep, eat a large breakfast, a moderate lunch and a light dinner. I bet everybody must have faced this kind of situation when you are awake in the middle of the night just because you are feeling hungry to eat that makes you cannot fall asleep. This kind of condition is called night – time hunger or “dagwood syndrome”. This syndrome may be caused by certain medical conditions such as ulcers or dieting. Teenagers especially, that stay up at night always face this kind of condition.

After being informed of what is REM sleep and causes that lead to poor night sleep, we shall now focus on the vitamins and minerals that can help you sleep. The first vitamins that is good for better night sleep is the B vitamins. It will regulate the body’s use of tryptophan and amino acids in the body that can help humans to sleep. Several studies have been done on the effectiveness of the B vitamins that can actually help people who have depression along with insomnia in the University of Alabama. A part from that it also helps people to get back to sleep after being awakened in the middle of the night.

So just how the B vitamins can help people with insomnia, another vitamins and minerals that can help with sleep is calcium. It is well known that calcium has a calming effect on the central nervous system and is essential for normal sleep. Calcium is found rich in milk but then many people tend not to drink milk. For those who do not like drinking milk before bedtime, it is suggested to take calcium supplements that contain magnesium and potassium to create proper balance and lastly help towards better night sleep.

Now we are at the last main point of REM sleep disorders. Before I ended my speech, I would like to give some tips for good night sleep. College and university students tend to sleep late at night and wake up late the next morning. Our bodies actually need refreshments after a long sleep night. But then, a bad eating habit before bedtime will lead to serious sleepless night. First you have to reduce caffeine in your drinks. Too much of caffeine may be the factor in your insomnia. Students tend to drink coffee, tea or Nescafe in order to stay up in the night to complete their assignments. Caffeine has been shown to cause people to take longer to get to sleep, cause more awakenings and to lower the quality of sleep.

The last tip would be the use of aromatherapy to help aid with good night sleep. Aromatherapy has been known for its effectiveness in dealing with stress, depression and brings calmness. These are some of the essential oils to aid with sleep. The first one is chamomile essential oil which is known for its calming and mild inflammation healing properties and can also be used to treat women during the PMS. The second essential oil would be neroli essential oil that has a calming effect, aids with tension, fear, nerves and helps with mild depression. This is one of the strongest sedative essential oils for help with sleeping. The last essential oils would be marajoram essential oil that has muscle relaxation properties when applied to skin, calming, slightly warming can help with sleep and relaxation.

In conclusion, I have provided you with the information about REM sleep disorders and ways to cope with the syndrome awake at night that caused insomnia. With this informative speech, I hope that I have given you precious information about sleeping disorders and I hope that you can practicing some of the ways to aids with good night sleep.

REFERENCES

1. H.Peter, No More Sleepless Nights, Canada, John Wiley &Sons, Inc, 1990.
2. C. Antonio, Clinical Handbook of Sleep Disorders, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1996.
3. P. Nerys, The Essential Natural Health, Australia, Millennium House, 2006.
4. P. Shirley, Aromatherapy for Women, London, Lorenz Books, 2001.
5. Tisserand, Robert B. The Art of Aromatherapy. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1977. ISBN: 0-89281-001-7.
6. Lawless, Julia. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils. Rockport, MA: Element Books, Inc., 1995. ISBN: 1-85230-721-8.
7. Manniche, Lise. Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy & Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999. ISBN: 0-8014-3720-2