3. Sleep

Adequate sleep is vital to our health in many ways. The brain requires sleep to process information gathered during the day and to clean out waste products generated during normal daily operations. Adequate sleep is 8 hours daily. Naps are very beneficial. A lack of sleep causes dementia, damages our immune system, and shortens our life expectancy.

Extreme sleep deprivation is the most effective torture known to man and is ultimately deadly. Numerous special operations military trainees have died during training exercises due to extreme sleep deprivation. Medical residents are still routinely abused with less severe sleep deprivation which results in medical errors that also damage patients. Night shift workers suffer more illness due to their schedules.

During sleep the glial cells in the brain shrink allowing more effective flushing of interstitial spaces between neurons with cerebrospinal fluid. This flushes out waste products that otherwise build up as amyloid. Amyloid is what is seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. In this way lack of sleep causes dementia. Vaccines administered to people when they are sleep-deprived are less effective. Autoimmune conditions are more prevalent in the sleep-deprived. After students study, they retain more information for a test if they sleep 8 hours rather than study another 8 hours. The brain needs sleep to process information and cement in memory. People with sleep apnea frequently awaken at night 8 by choking and don’t get adequate rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This not only makes them chronically tired, but also severely damages their health.

If you notice your partner choking and stopping breathing intermittently during the night, have them get a sleep study. By far the most common cause of sleep apnea is obesity and the best treatment is weight loss. But CPAP (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) devices can be a lifesaving tool. A fascinating book that delves deeply into this topic is “Why We Sleep” by Dr. Jeffrey Walker.