You should sleep when you are alive, not when you are dead!!

"I'll sleep when I'll be dead".... About 2/3rd of the adults in the world failed to obtain the recommended 8 hours of sleep. I doubt you are surprised by the fact, but you may be surprised by the consequences.

If you’ve ever spent a night tossing and turning, you already know how you’ll feel the next day — tired, cranky, and out of sorts. But missing out on the recommended hours of sleep does more than make you feel groggy and grumpy.

The long-term effects of sleep deprivation are real. Routinely sleeping less than 6/7 hours a night demolishes our immune system, more than doubling the risk of cancer, coronary artery diseases, stokes and congestive heart failure. 

Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock, running in the background to carry out essential functions and processes. One of the most important and well-known circadian rhythms is the sleep-wake cycle.

Melatonin is a circadian rhythm regulator. Our circadian rhythm regulates waking and sleeping cycles and Dr. Anderson said that every cell and organ in our bodies is affected by it. Melatonin works to keep circadian rhythm in sync.

Because it is extremely light sensitive, melatonin will react to morning light exposure when our brain is signaled to pull back on melatonin release. Morning light also signals the brain to release cortisol, which is our awake hormone. Cortisol wakes us and should be at its peak in the morning. Melatonin and cortisol are in an opposite relationship; when melatonin is high, cortisol should be low and vice versa. When either of these gets out of balance, our ability to sleep is affected.

Every morning, to start the day with coffee is common. However good that first cup of morning coffee tastes, the feeling that comes from drinking coffee can be even more enticing. Caffeine is a stimulant with powerful physical and mental effects. 

Caffeine stimulates your body’s central nervous system, increasing alertness and reducing fatigue. Once ingested, caffeine takes effect within 15 to 20 minutes, and half of that caffeine can remain in your system for 6/7 or more hours. This is what experts describe as caffeine’s half-life, and it is not a fixed figure. It is the amount of time it takes caffeine to work its way out of your system. This can vary from four to six hours, or more, but seems to average around 5.7 hours. It’s important to be aware of how caffeine affects your body. For instance, a mid-afternoon cup of coffee may interfere with your ability to fall asleep many hours later. Your individual sleep-wake routine also will play a role in the timing of your caffeine consumption. If you’re an early-to-bed person, a 3 PM cup of coffee may upset your normal sleep regimen. To avoid nightly sleep disruptions due to caffeine, work back 10 hours from bedtime to find your caffeine cut-off time.

Caffeine also stimulates the production of adrenaline, an alertness-boosting hormone that is linked to your body’s fight or flight response. An increase in adrenaline raises your heart rate, increases your breathing and brings on a state of increased vigilance and alertness. Caffeine also blocks the effectiveness of adenosine, a chemical that helps to bring on drowsiness and to regulate your sleep-wake cycles. Additionally, caffeine alters sleep architecture, the overall nightly distribution of sleep among the five different sleep stages. Over-caffeinating can reduce time spent in deep sleep, the phase that is critical for physical and mental rejuvenation.

There  is  growing  evidence  on  the  presence  of risk  factors  and  symptoms  of  several  sleep  disorders  among  college students .  Several  studies  have  found  a  relatively  high  prevalence  of sleep-related  complaints,  e.g.  inadequate  sleep,  difficulty  falling  asleep or  maintaining  sleep,  early  morning  awakenings,  poor  sleep  quality, early  morning  sleepiness,  and  daytime  napping,  among  college  students.

Among college students, medical students are under particularly high levels of stress, hence the crucial need for adequate refreshing sleep (to maintain cognitive and physical well-being) to achieve their goals.

Sleep  disorders,  particularly  hypersomnia  and  insomnia,  are  common  among  undergraduate  medical  students.  Several  sleep  disorders such  as  insomnia,  affective  disorder,  SSM,  narcolepsy,  and  CRD  are associated  with  poor  academic  performance.  Prospective  studies  that further  compare  the  academic  performance  of  medical  students  (before and  after  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  sleep  disorders)  will  be  useful  to clarify  the  association  between  sleep  disorders  and  poor  academic  performance.  Establishing  such  association  can  emphasize  the  importance of  diagnosing  and  treating  sleep  disorders  among  medical  students  and consequently  improve  the  outcome  of  medical  schools.