What A Sleep Expert Wants You To Know

The act of sleeping may seem like a natural process but there are several factors to consider when making sure you get the right amount and quality of rest. Doctor Kenny Pang, Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist at Asia Sleep Centre, shares tips on ways to get the best sleep.

Sleep is a very basic human need that appears to be a fundamental process. Yet the mechanism and reason why we sleep is extensively researched and still not fully understood. In order to understand what constitutes quality sleep, we first have to break down the physiology of sleep. According to the medical profession, sleep can be characterised by three key features:

> it is a transient reversible state (the person can be awakened)

> it is a behavioral need (some people require more sleep than others)

> it is a perceptual disengagement from the environment (one is not aware of the surrounding).

Some believe it to be habitual, as many of us have different sleep requirements and different sleep patterns/habit or cycles. Sleep is also seen as a state of unconsciousness in which the brain is relatively more responsive to internal than external stimuli. The predictable cycling of sleep and the reversal of relative external unresponsiveness are features that assist in distinguishing sleep from other states of unconsciousness. The brain gradually becomes less responsive to visual, auditory, and other environmental stimuli during the transition from wake to sleep.

It used to be believed that humans need to sleep for the body to get rest; however, we are currently aware that sleep is meant for the brain to get rejuvenation and rest.

The average human spends about six to eight hours per day sleeping, for some it can be up to 10 hours per day, while others can do with just four hours per day. Hence, we spend about one third of the day sleeping, and therefore, one-third of our lifetime sleeping, yet so many of us take sleep for granted.

As we spend one-third of our life sleeping, for the average Singaporean who lives up to about 85 years old (current life expectancy), we sleep for a total of 28 years of our life!