Nigerians lack good sleeping habits – Experts

Posted by admin Headlines Friday, April 22nd, 2011

A Consultant Paediatrician at the National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Denis Shatima, has said Nigerians have made sleep a secondary issue, which is why majority lack good sleep habit. Shatima said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday that many Nigerians thought they could always compensate for lost sleep later on and in doing so they wreaked havoc on their bodies. He said, “Sleep is very important. The human body is such that it also has a limit in terms of useful function and therefore, when you reach a certain point you find that your performance will progressively deteriorate. “Therefore you need to go and rest so that you replenish the energy you have distributed in your routine activity.’’ Shatima stated that the amount of sleep needed was dependent on a person’s age, but could be affected by the person’s level of activity and genes. The medical practitioner said, “While babies can sleep for up to 16 hours, waking up mainly for feeding and changing, as they grow up and their activities increase, sleep progressively decreases. “Small children require about 14 hours, teenagers need nine hours on average and adults need between seven to eight hours sleep.” Shatima told NAN that there were dangers associated with indulging in too much or too little sleep. He said that people who slept excessively were generally dull with decreased mental activity and a predisposition to obesity and obesity-related illnesses. “Sleep deprivation is a very, very serious problem. It makes you accident-prone, decreases your concentration, and decreases your performance. “Even if you work at night, it is always advisable that during the day time, you try and mimic your sleep pattern that normally takes place at night. “By that, you will find that your body will be reconditioned and you find that you’ll be able to do very well psychologically.’’ Shatima said that in order to stay awake, the body needs a high level of adrenaline, which is a hormone that increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, and dilates air passage. He explained that high levels of adrenaline in the body is a known cause of hypertension and strokes. According to him, the continued use of substances like caffeine to prevent sleep generates bad side effects that increase the likelihood of these illnesses. Shatima stated that the best way for Nigerians to improve their performance and remain energised was to develop good sleep habit and avoid building a sleep debt. -Punchwp_posts