Ghanaians advised to sleep to prevent shutting down the body
Dr. Bryte Asamoah, a Radiologist, has advised the public to sleep and have adequate rest after every hard day’s work to rejuvenate the body and prevent it from shutting down.
“Sleep is very vital to the body and it is one of the major health benefits a person can derive or ask for. So naturally when the body is tired, the only solution is to sleep and when the body is deprived of it, it is at risk of shutting down,” he added.
Dr. Asamoah, also a Clinical Director of the Vodafone Ghana Healthline programme, gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency ahead of the 2022 World Sleep Day which comes off tomorrow, March 18, on the theme: “Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World.”
He explained that stressing one’s self intensely without having good sleep, posed a great danger to the body, could accumulate the health deficit of an individual and subsequently lead to death.
Sleep naturally released a lot of chemicals into the body that helped it to recover from the stress of the day, hence, was particularly important for all individuals working in a demanding and stressful environment, he added.
The World Sleep Day, according to the World Sleep Society, is an annual event hosted since 2008, to celebrate sleep and be a call to action on critical issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving.
The day, currently marked by more than 88 countries, with an annual 155 events globally, aims at lessening the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.
The Jagran Lifestyle Desk, New Delhi, India, said initially, the World Sleep Day was co-chaired by The Sleep Centre, Community General Hospital, Syracuse, New York, USA, and Antonio Culebras, MD, Professor of Neurology, Upstate Medical University, and Consultant, and Liborio Parrino, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Parma University, Italy.
Days of The Year, an online guide to the world’s holidays, states that sleep might seem like a normal aspect of life but could be one of the most banal, underrated aspects of people’s lives.
According to the American Sleep Association, more than 50 to 70 million people had some type of sleeping disorder, more than 25 million had sleep apnea, and the most commonly reported sleep problem was insomnia (the inability to sleep at all or for a full night).
The day, it said, was expected to bring people together, whether everyday people or healthcare providers, to discuss sleep problems, help find solutions, and prevent sleep problems for those who did not yet have them.
Members of the public were, therefore, encouraged to give an intentional nod to the day by taking some 20 minute or more nap during a lunch break at work.
Adults were also advised to practice sleep hygiene, bearing in mind that they could not sleep easily just because children slept naturally easily when they were tired, as their sleep routine might need a little bit of extra attention and care.
The healthy habits and relaxation routines, it said, includes fixing bedtime and wake time, exercising, cutting back on caffeine, keeping room temperature of between 60 and 67 degrees F or 16 to 19 degrees C, and dimming the lights to tell the brain it is time to sleep.
Others were turning off the computer, television, smartphone, or other devices at least 60 minutes prior to bedtime as the blue lights could interfere with good sleep rhythms.
The public were also directed to give 30 minutes for bedtime routine by calculating half an hour to wind down with soft music, light stretching or reading a boring book instead of expecting to fall asleep right away, and as well practise meditation – deep breathing and mindfulness practices before bed to enable the brain to release the stress of the day.
Days of the Year admonished the public with sleeping problems and smart phones to use applications like ‘Slumber,’ ‘Calm,’ ‘Sleep Cycle,’ and ‘Reflectly’ to soothe the brain toward sleep or to measure the sleeping rhythms during the night.
Source: GNA