"If a person sleeps for three hours, his life is as fragile as paper"? What are the three hours? These abnormalities may be the body's "call for help"...

Expert of this article: Zhao Wei, MD, associate chief physician, Tianjin University Teda Hospital

If you have any unhappy things, just take a good sleep.

I don't feel very energetic today. A good sleep will help.

If you are sick and feeling unwell, take a nap and rest.

…

Sleeping is a top priority in our daily life. We spend one-third of our lives sleeping. And the quality of sleep has a significant impact on our health.

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As the saying goes, "If a person sleeps three times, his life is as thin as paper." Is there any basis for this saying? And which types of sleep are most harmful to the body?

Not everyone knows the science of sleep, let’s learn together.

“If a person sleeps three times, his life will be thinner than paper”?

There is a certain scientific reason for the saying "If a person sleeps three times, his life is as thin as paper". The characteristics of good quality sleep are sufficient, reasonable, regular, continuous sleep time, and moderate deep sleep. Sleep disorders and improper sleeping habits will have a significant impact on people's physical and mental health.

Which of the three awakenings are most harmful to the body?

Sleeping in

The ideal sleep time for normal adults is about 8 hours. Some people have normal sleep physiological structure and sleep efficiency, but they need more than 10 hours of sleep. These people are called "long sleepers".

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Studies have found that sleeping less than 7 hours or more than 9 hours a night significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. It should be noted that sleeping late is often secondary to physical and psychological diseases, such as depression. Sleeping late on weekends does not relieve fatigue, but instead affects the normal sleep cycle and causes insomnia at night.

Inverted Perception

Human sleep and wakefulness show the characteristics of a circadian rhythm with a 24-hour cycle. Staying up late at night, insomnia, and long-term shift work may lead to early sleep phase, delayed sleep phase, and sleep reversal, that is, circadian rhythm disorder.

Night owls who go to bed late and get up late have circadian rhythm disorders with delayed sleep phase. Circadian rhythm disorders can manifest as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, and increased daytime sleep, which can induce cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, metabolic, cognitive and emotional disorders, leading to impairment of learning, work and other functions.

Emotional Awareness

Many people will think about what happened during the day before going to sleep, replaying both pleasant and unpleasant things in their minds. Once this habit is formed, they will involuntarily think about random things, leading to insomnia.

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Sleep your mind first, and don’t bring bad emotions to bed. Sleeping with emotions will lead to insomnia and awakening at night.

Is waking up easily in the middle of the night a signal from the body for help?

Some people occasionally wake up while sleeping at night. Waking up easily in the middle of the night will cause fragmented sleep and poor sleep quality.

The elderly (decreased sleep homeostasis), the influence of the sleeping environment (such as noise, light, etc.), poor sleep hygiene habits (alcohol, coffee, etc. before going to bed), long daytime naps, and medications (hormones, diuretics, etc.) can all lead to waking up easily in the middle of the night.

In addition, waking up easily in the middle of the night may be caused by the following diseases:

1. Sleep apnea syndrome (snoring)

Because the tissues around the airways collapse during sleep, oxygen cannot fully enter the lungs, causing hypoxia in the body. At this time, the heartbeat slows down, and the brain wakes up due to lack of oxygen (sometimes it is a slight awakening, and you don’t even feel it). After awakening, oxygen enters the blood again, and the heart starts to beat faster to transport oxygen... This repeated "hunger and satiety" oxygen supply will cause damage to various organs in the body.

If you wake up frequently at night and feel sleep deprived, sleepy, and have dry mouth when you wake up in the morning, you should consider the possibility of sleep apnea syndrome.

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2. Insomnia

Insomnia is not just about difficulty falling asleep. If you still have difficulty falling asleep 20-30 minutes after waking up, it is also called insomnia. Insomnia can occur alone or as a manifestation of other physical and mental illnesses.

3. Mental illness

Patients with depression, bipolar disorder, etc. often suffer from insomnia and difficulty maintaining sleep. Long-term excessive stress or anxiety can lead to increased levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that excites the brain, which can increase the level of arousal and make people wake up easily.

4. Neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia can cause damage to biological rhythms. Patients experience fragmented sleep and frequent awakenings at night.

5. Other diseases

Other physical diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, prostate hyperplasia, hypoglycemia, and bone and joint pain can all lead to waking up easily in the middle of the night.

What other sleep disorders may indicate health problems?

In addition to common sleep problems such as insomnia, fragmented sleep at night, early awakening, and snoring, some relatively rare sleep disorders may also indicate that the body may have a certain disease.

Such as neurological diseases such as stroke, dementia, Parkinson's disease, endocrine diseases such as diabetes and thyroid dysfunction, digestive diseases such as functional dyspepsia and gastroesophageal reflux, and mental and psychological diseases. These diseases often also have multiple sleep disorders.

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1. Restless Legs Syndrome

It occurs in a variety of neurological diseases and manifests as leg discomfort (sometimes in the upper limbs) accompanied by a strong desire to move the limbs. Symptoms are aggravated when the patient is at rest or at night and improve after activity, which can lead to difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings at night.

2. Periodic limb movement disorder

It manifests as involuntary leg twitches at night, which can also cause nighttime awakenings. About 80% of people with restless legs syndrome have periodic limb movement disorder.

3. Excessive daytime sleepiness

It can be seen in narcolepsy, metabolic encephalopathy, stroke, brain tumors, encephalitis, neurodegenerative diseases (dementia, Parkinson's disease, etc.) and mental illness.

4. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

The patient exhibits varying degrees of behavioral activity during sleep, such as punching and kicking, and may even get out of bed to move around, and can clearly recall the contents of the dream after waking up. This can be seen in Parkinson's disease, dementia, narcolepsy, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, etc.

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