Do we ever get enough sleep, wonders Salonaz Sami Shakespeare called it "Nature's gentle nurse". Others have elaborated: it is the time during which the body is rejuvenated and recharged. But sleep doesn't come easily to all of us. This writer has frequently stayed awake for up to three nights in a row since secondary school. The routine could be productive, but also depressing and disorienting, with night stretching into day and vice versa. Until I logged onto Facebook -- created by a Harvard graduate, 21-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, not so long ago but already boasting over 30,000 new Egyptian users daily -- it had never occurred to me that the answer may be on the Internet. The thing is, I started whiling away the sleepless hours on that brilliant invention. Becoming an addict in no time, little did I know that there would emerge a sleep-aid "application" with a number of "groups" attached to it dealing with every imaginable aspect of insomnia: "people who don't sleep enough because they stay up for no particular reason", for example, numbering 208,474 members from all across the globe, quickly established a group therapy routine. At first it was simply the feeling of not being alone that helped, but soon the Internet yielded much helpful information on both the phenomenon and how it works. I was hooked. Scientists have defined sleep but not the need for it. A reduction in voluntary body movement, audio receptivity and reaction to external stimulation, loss of consciousness and -- not that I know what this is -- an increased rate of anabolism, and a decreased rate of catabolism. Still, why do we need it? "We spend a third of our lives asleep," says Hala Darwish, a sleep-disorder consultant, "but after decades of intense research we still have only a few clues about it." The fact is -- and here the technical term is heterogeneous -- the body doesn't actually need sleep to function. "It has been proven," says Darwish, "that all our organs can function perfectly efficiently without sleep." Sleep is generally and rightly regarded as a means to rejuvenation and release; what is less widely known, and remains intriguing, is that what happens in the brain during sleep is far from relaxing: complex activities take place not only in the brain, in fact, but elsewhere in the body as well, and they would be tiring -- Darwish implies -- if only we were conscious of them. In the end, the only physical advantage of sleep that has been noted is an improvement in "brain plasticity", the mechanism underlying memory functions, and hence an improvement in memory. Sleep proceeds in 90- to 120-minute cycles of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, Darwish explains. In REM, the brain is active and the muscles are paralysed -- to prevent us from acting out our dreams, which occur at this time. In NREM, on the other hand, the body is relatively active but the brain is at rest. Interesting this certainly is; does it help insomnia? As it happens, Darwish contends, insomnia is a very subjective issue: "people tend to assume that they all need less than eight hours of sleep daily and that the more you sleep the healthier you will be. In fact, for some, three hours a day is enough for body and mind to achieve the same results." Each person is uniquely constituted, so there can be no rules. Nor does the number of hours affect productivity or creativity per se, except as regards memory and alertness. This is particularly true of children, who need rather more sleep to function properly, with newborns requiring up to 18 hours. Sufficient sleep makes for better growth in terms of hormones and the immunity system, as well as improving problem- solving and other mental skills. Indeed according to research undertaken at Warwick, University College London, lack of sleep can double the risk of cardiovascular disease, but so can excessive sleep. Quality rather than quantity is at stake, and sleep disorders are a sign of low-quality sleep. "Insomnia affects children and adults alike," says Shahira El-Louzi, a consultant at the Sleep Disorders Centre in Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, "but it affects women and elderly people more than others." It can have a range of causes from hormonal imbalance and insufficient hygiene to depression, stress and anxiety. A hyperactive brain will cause insomnia, too. Sleep disorders, El-Louzi went on to explain, can perpetrate weight gain, hypertension and even diabetes. Insomnia can only be cured once the underlying cause has been determined, but it is not the only sleep disorder that has serious repercussions. Apnea is the name given to a range of breathing problems that affect the quality of sleep, with an interruption in breathing breaking the cycle or waking up the patient; it too must be treated if it is not to result in lack of productivity or indeed depression. According to Darwish, sleep disorders are behind more driving accidents than alcohol. At the opposite end of the scale is the tendency to fall asleep during the day, usually accompanied by other forms of excessive sleep. "Sometimes a patient could suddenly fall asleep during driving or working. Those sleep attacks could last from a couple of seconds to over an hour, then the patient wakes up refreshed. Diagnosing a sleep disorder correctly is the first step on the way to recovery." Causes include narcotics, depression and bereavement. On Facebook the discussions are rather broader in scope, with caffeine, for example, taking up much screen space: while blaming it for insomnia, members say they cannot do without it to stay awake and cheerful during the day. The hallucinations that set when you have stayed awake for long enough are described as both funny and "just weird" -- like an acid trip, good or bad. In 1965, the Guinness record- holder Randy Gardner, then 18, stayed awake for 264 hours (about 11 days) for a school project. He experienced significant deficits in concentration, motivation and perception as well as mental processes but he recovered his functions after a few nights' sleep. The Guinness Book of Records has since withdrawn its backing of a sleep deprivation class because of associated health risks. Perhaps staying up is not such a good idea after all. The decision is yours, Darwish concludes, but if you suffer from sleep disorders try using the methods listed on Facebook first; use drugs only as a last resort. All sedative drugs can suppress important stages of sleep and may lead to dependence. They can result in a loss of consciousness that does not fulfil the physiological functions of sleep. Tips for a good night's sleep: - Avoid daytime naps. - Avoid caffeine, alcohol and tobacco and instead drink warm milk or herb tea 15 minutes before going to bed. - Backwards counting/mental computer. - Breath deeply. - Eat a bedtime snack. - Use earplugs. - Get some physical exercise during the day. - Keep a regular bed time hours. - Keep your bed a place to sleep, if you cannot sleep get up. - Listen to music. - Sleep on a good firm bed. - Sleep in a well-ventilated room. - Sleep on your back or with your head facing north. - Stop smoking 15 minutes before going to bed. - Take a warm bath. - Use aromatherapy, including jasmine oil, lavender oil, and other relaxing essential oils may also help induce a state of restfulness.
