The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sleep

  • ‘I’m not losing sleep over 2016’

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said he is not losing sleep over next year’s governorship election.

    He expressed confidence that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be defeated at the poll.

    The governor said he stopped worrying about the election because the alleged conspiracy of the PDP, the police and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been smashed.

    Oshiomhole, who addressed reporters in Benin, the state capital, said he would defeat the PDP, even at the wards of their leaders.

    The governor carpeted the party for kicking against the $75 million World Bank loan the state planned to take for development projects.

    He said his administration resorted to the loan because the PDP had liquidated the country and pauperised the states.

    Oshiomhole said the election of President Muhammadu Buhari came at the right time to stop the continued looting of the treasury under the PDP.

    The governor said his administration had paid N20 billion from the state’s N25 billion bond.

    According to him, the loan would be paid before the end of his tenure.

    Oshiomhole said: “If the PDP did not steal the money, we would not need to borrow. What we lost from the NLNG under the PDP Federal Government was about $11.6 billion. Edo State’s share of that money was more than N30 billion. If you realise that from every one billion dollars, we get more than N2.7 billion. So if PDP did not steal and bleed the economy dry, our legitimate revenue stolen by the past PDP government and its men is more than that.

    “PDP is simply not in a position to blame the victims of their own looting which is unprecedented in the history of the country. My hope is that they would be brought to justice.”

    “In the South-South zone, look at the debt profile, Edo is the least borrowed. The only major loan we have taken since I assumed office was a N25 billion bond out of which we have paid over N20 billion because we are paying N530 million every month.

    “As we speak, we have only about N5 billion left of that loan which will be liquidated before the end of this tenure. You heard of bailout, find out what PDP states are borrowing under the bailout plan, not for development but to pay salaries. But Edo State Government is up-to-date with salaries without bail out. You need to interrogate facts and not report these people as if they are responsible people because when you do that, people don’t know the difference between mischief makers and responsible people.

    “PDP should simply shut up because they destroyed everything. Carry out your own investigations. You read in the papers how much our neighboring states are borrowing? You heard of N20billion, N30 billion under two months. To do what, To settle the invisibles. You hear them talking about N14.5 billion. We are not borrowing to pay salaries, we are able to do that in spite of the massive looting by the PDP. I appeal to the media because you are victims and you must interrogate these thieves when they break the highway rules and want to divert you. When you ask questions, they say you want to witch hunt. Why won’t you witch hunt when the witches are killing people in the village.

    “For me, the only regret I have is that somehow, these rogues can seemingly eat their cake and yours and go out to complain that the cake is missing when it is in their stomach. I also need you to consult the Word Bank to look at the statement they issued that Edo is the second State, Lagos being the first; that these two states have shown sufficient reforms, transparency, accountability in Internally Generated Revenue and reforming the public policy to ensure value for money.

    “They are providing these facilities as a measure for encouraging other states to take a cue from what Lagos and Edo are doing. If this is the basis of support and you are listening to a bunch of armed robbers of what they think about decent society, they would rather borrow at 20% and they are envious that we are attracting a facility more or less at zero cost of 1% spread out over 20 years. If you read the report of the Senate, it says about 17 states and these are PDP states have applied for this facility but because of their public image, the World Bank is not willing to loan to them.”

    “You hear PDP say nothing has happened in Edo State. Even the Hospital we are building, the Benin City Water Storm project, just one project is more than the entire loan we have taken. So as we speak, Edo is the least borrowed. Every state now is borrowing money for salaries. You are not just to parrot the views of armed robbers. When you report, you say however, it will be recalled that, that way, the reader understands who is saying the truth.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Near- death experiences diary sleep (sleep apnea)

    Many people hate to think about death or talk about it, not to mention visualising their funerals. I am in perfect agreement with the need not to live in the past or in the future but in the present. For only people who live in the present, not necessarily loosening and loosing themselves in pleasure, that is letting themselves go, who are  really enjoying life. Life is all about gaining deep recognitions of present events and employing the lessons they bring to build bridges to the future. In this scenario, I have to constantly bestir myself to know who I am, where I came from, why I am here, how event I am priviledged to experience, bitter or sweet, are contributing to the fulfillment of that purpose, how well I am allowing my experiences and experiencing to enable me achieve this as purpose, and wither, someday, after earthly demise or death is an inevitable end-pole of this scenario. I was priviledged to be so emboldened early in life, after about three. Out of Body experiences OBEs  that, at 27, I signed my funeral will and at 33 reconfirmed it to my wife. It permits of no live band(s), no singing, no grieving, sobbing or crying, no dining and no feasting, no revelry simply because I am gone. In accordance with my faith, my friends will, no doubt, be around to say “good-bye”. If am lucky to have severed from the corpse, after dethatching the silver cord from my soul, they’d be left with an empty carcass. I would love to have gone away even before my friends come around to encourage me to do so, in line with the teaching of my faith. For souls which are disturbed by many, if not all of today’s funeral event, such as tossing the coffin up and down like football, may become trapped in the corpses for month or even years, lonely or alone in the cemetery, while their families and friends imaging they have giving them a most befitting funeral.

    Sleep apnea

    The nearest many people come to thinking about death is sleep apnea, which in the Nigerian corner of the earth they think is caused by witches who try to kill them in their sleep. Do not get me wrong. I do not imply from this that witches or witchcraft does not exist. They are people who have understood certain possibilities in creation and manipulate them ethereally for negative and, rarely, positive ends. In the ethereal realm, they manipulate the ethereal bodies of their victims and, soon, the manipulations affect the physical body. This is what many people suspect and for which they seek “deliverance” in their churches or from the age-old native doctor who may order sacrifices to appease the witches or the gods. But what happens if the condition is physiological or biological? In the United States, where we do not hear so much about witches, a whooping 18 million suffer from sleep apnea and between two and four percent of the population suffer from it but do not know they do until their doctors orders sleep tests for other complains.

    Symptoms

    In the days I suffered from sleep apnea, I would suddenly feel from deep sleep that I was about to die. I would be unable to breathe, and it would appear something or someone was pressing me down, stopping me from breathing, with the intent of killing me. I was always lucky to wake up with a start otherwise I would not be alive today to tell the story. I would wake up if I could move an arm or a leg, or if there was such noise, such as the banging of a door, that would ordinarily and naturally rouse one from sleep.

    In their Precriptions for natural cures, James F. Balch, M.D., and Mark stengner, N.D.,

    Say: “sleep apnea affect five percent of adults, but most of them will never be diagnosed. During this condition, a person repeatedly stops breathing during the night and wakes up to catch his or breath. The two consequences of this are a significant drop in the blood’s oxygen and deprivation. Be suspicious of this condition if you snore, have daytime sleepiness, have high blood pleasure, or are overweight.

    People who sleep on their back are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea.

    any of us do. It is still the most convenient way for me to sleep. But, these days, I adjust to the right side when I catch myself along so, or crossing my legs which I understand may predispose one to a heart attack or stroke by causing muscle misalignments. Regarding sleeping apnea on one’s back, I recall my maternal grandmother rousing her grand children from sleep and warning that if witches flew past, they would see all of one’s internal organs and feast on whichever organ pleased them. We now know sleeping on one’s back may make the tongue to fall back, blocking the airways in the upper throat. The soft muscles at the back of the throat may also over- relax blocking the airways. This may cause snoring as little air is forced through. Breathing may ceased for 10 to 20 seconds hundreds of times a night. This causes oxygen deprivation, light sleep and headaches next day, apart from tiredness and loss of concentration. Over a long period, sleep apnea may cause diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and weight gain among other problems. Some researchers have diffentiated about three types of sleep apnea, namely…

    •Obstructive sleep apnea: In this condition, the most common, caused by relaxation of soft tissue at the back of the throat. This may cause loud snores.

    •Centre sleep apnea: This involves the Central Nervous System (CNS) when the brain does not control muscles which control breathing. The sufferers seldom snore.

    •Complex Sleep Apnea: When obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea interlock, the result is complex sleep apnea.

    Inobstructive Sleep Apnea, he sufferer hardly recognizes anything goes wrong in his or her sleep. For by simply adjusting the sleep position, sleep resumes. An indicator is often heaviness the next day due to lack of deep sleep which refreshes and revitalizes. In Central Sleep Apnea, the brain works through the CNS to correct the problem. This possible explains some cases of restless leg syndrome, a situation in which constant leg jerks disturb sleep or, in this case rouses the oxygen – deprived sleeper to life.

    Treatment

    As in all health challenges, natural remedies comprise measures to eliminate the problems from their root causes. So the following approaches may be tried.

    •Sleeping on the side, is better than sleeping on the back. Some people prefer the right side to the left in the belief that lying on the left may affect the heart in some ways. I learnt to alternate between lying on the side and lying face down.

    •In the days I experience sleep apnea, I ran a test which suggested I didn’t have enough oxygen in the brain. In such a condition, it is possible to experience swoons even when the red blood count, the iron level and the blood sugar level are normal. I learned to start and close the day with two capsules each time with VITALAIRE, and oxygen formular. The deep green plants are available for oxygenation in oxygen- deprived conditions such as sleep apnea. I love wheatgrass, spirulina, Barley grass, Alfalfa, Kale and Spinach in powder form, taken as a tea or added to meals. In then and other greens, plants have captured and stored oxygen in their chlorophyll for the benefit of man. For chlorophyll is composed of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen, all of which are necessary for the formation and maintenance of cells.

    •As the muscles at the back of the throat fall to the air passage, the improvement of muscles tone or strength is called for. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols of the d- alpha variant) is highly recommended. It has proven its worth in the upkeep of the heart and uterus, two of the body’s mascular organs. Lady’s mantle, traditionally used to improve tone in uterine muscles, is good for this purpose. So as calcium and magnesium. Calcium contracts, magnesium relaxes. They combine in a 2:1 ratio. Some doctor prefer they be taken separately at different times of the day to guarantee maximum absorption of each. Some do not mind them being taken together. Some authorities believe vitamin D deficiency is a cause of the weakness of theses muscles. Indeed, vitamin D, especially D3, is believed to be needed for optimal Calcium absorption. My preference is CORAL CALCIUM, which comes with not only calcium but magnesium and about 40 other minerals in a state nearly as balanced, if not in the same proportions as Mother Nature gave them to man. I obtain them, also from an alkaline form of Vitamin C. I take, to which manganese and iron are also added. Ditto from green powder drinks.

    •Sinus and throat infections play some roles in throat conditions. Sometimes, these problems begin in the mouth with gum and teeth infections or disease. When people complain of symptoms of sleep apnea, I try to get close to them to size their breathe. Often, the breathe is foul and the tongue is gray, indicating candida may have a hold. For oral teeth, Diatom may be pasted on the gum and teeth overnight. Alternatively, a capsule of probiotic (friendly bacteria) may be used in like manner. There are many nasal and mouth sprays for the condition.

    •Some doctors have reported in medical journals that weight loss does help. In one such publication, about 20 percent in an experimental group recovered from sleep apnea after an aggressive weight loss programme.

    •Many authorities suggest sleep – promoting food supplements such as Melatonin, (to be used for short periods), melatonin, 5-HTTP, Valerian root, Passion Flower, Calcium and Magnesium, and Vitamin B12, St. John’s Wort (not to be used when on medication for depression).

    •Since muscles are involved in sleep apnea, and since muscles do not work or misbehave without nerves imploring them, nerve tonics are indicated for this condition. The suggestions in No 6 above should help. One more I’d like to mention is the biochemic/homeopathic cell salt named KALI MUR. It heals mangled nerves.

    Many of us do not wish to think about death. Also we do not wish to die. Yet sleep apnea is a potential source of death and we treat it with kid gloves, labeling it a handiwork of witches and a “spiritual attack”. A friend of mine suffers from it. He has had about three day – time symptoms of a near stroke. Yet he avoids laboratory tests and medications.

    Treachery, like all falsehood. Will inevitably Collapse.

    We live on a planet where air, water and food are poisoned and where the ethereal environment is despoiled by treachery in human relationships. The inauguration week last of Senator Bukola

    Saraki as Senate President of the Buhari Presidency era smells of nothing but treachery. And if treachery is a wrong or false principle of life and, therefore, stands in opposition to God in whom we all claim to believe, what profit will treachery bring if, in the end of all things, whatever is false or opposed to the Will of God must collapse? I do not think the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President would be rancorous and divisive and divertusionary as it has become if the organizers had followed due process. By the way, due process is not about the constitutionalism or legalism of the Senate forming a quorum for the election. It is about imbuing the process with trust. The process is trust deficiency when, for the purpose of the election, a large Section of the Senate is led away to hold a meeting that never was with the President of the Federal Republic and another large Section is retained in the Senate Chambers to elect a Senate President. What has aggravated ill Feelings towards the election of Bukola Saraki as Senate President is the fact that, as a member of President Buhari’s party, the APC, he, too, should have been in the group of Senators which went to attend a meeting with the President. Because he was not at that meeting, and because it should have been obvious to him that his fellow APC Senators were not in the Senate chambers, he exposed himself to suspicions that a plot was hatched of which he knew or was a part to exclude some Senators from the voting. As many commentators have observed, such a process was not only at variance with the Change the APC promised to bring to Nigerian political life and social order, it was inimical to it. For the foundation is false, the structure on it would wobble.

    t is still unclear if the saraki senate thunderbolt is the “major” event president Buhari  said last month would happen in early June, or if this is yet to come. Meanwhile, he has promised to work with whichever senate leadership emerges. In my view, that is throwing caution to the wind or, since the statement came after saraki’s inauguration, a way of validating it. Again in my humble view, it should have been better if the president remained neutral, allowing the senate to resolve its differences, especially as he has promised not to middle, like his predecessors, in National Assembly affairs. By not doing so, the president is saying he is ready to dance to music, any music, even if the fingers of Lucifer are on the strings of the harp. Yet the president was brought to office by the prayers, steadfastness and faith of people who saw him as man who does not dine with the devil and who would relax Lucifer’s hold on Nigeria.

    The PDP, routed in the last elections, has suddenly found its feet and voice in the senate, with a senate president who is APC in body but PDP in spirit, and deputy senate president who is PDP in body and spirit. What may happen next is that it would bare it fangs, and president Buhari may resort to EFCC in self defense. In that case, will anything have changed.  In the second series of buhari articles, this column warned that APC presidential election victory lifted the lair of the snake and that a snake half smitten is a dangerous snake which would seek to avenge the intrusion on its life for as long as it had any breath to fight back. Now, APC would appear chained in the senate for PDP to begin to work towards recovering the presidency under a Bukola Saraki who would have returned to the PDP after pulverising the APC.

    All the die- hard PDP people I met last week had suddenly come alive from hiber nation. One of them, a so- called pastor, was most irritating. I call him so- called pastor because, as people who calm to be serving the creator, whether he called them to his service or they are trying to force themselves on him, which is impossible, are supposed to live and act on the basis of certain ethical and spiritual standards which separate them from Dic and Harry men or the run-of the- mill men, otherwise they may not qualify to lead rustic, emotional and slumbering human spirits out of the moraks in which they think. This pastor was jubilating hilariously. I asked if he had thought of the implications of what had happened to Nigeria, and to the prospects of change. He said there was nothing like change, that the word was an empty electioneering slogan. I asked if, as a pastor, he did not see treachery at play or know that treachery is a grave betrayal of trust or if as a Pastor he had not learned that betrayal of trust, prevalent on earth today, is a sign of an approaching Final Judgement. This Pastor, to my dismay, said all of that didn’t matter, that “this is politics”. To him, life on the pulpit could be separated from life in politics or even business. I did not give up, leading him back to his Bible.

    •Cain killed his brother Abel. Treachery.

    •Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus. Treachery.

    •King David took the wife of Uriah, a soldier fighting in the war front to protect the land over which David was king. To cover his shame, David recalled Uriah home only to give him a letter for the commander. Uriah in trust, did not read this letter. David asked that Uriah to be posted to the hottest sector of the war where he would be killed and Uriah was killed. Treachery.

    •David’s son, Amon, loved his sister, Tamar, a virgin, so much he wished to sleep with her. His friend, Jehonaidab, the son of David’s brother, advised him to pretend he was ill and would get well only if Tamar brought him a meal in the privacy of his bedroom. Tamar, on suspecting, took a meal to her brother. When they were both alone Amnon seized Tamar.

  • My wife’s attitude forces me to sleep inside vehicle, alleges man

    •Wife: you’re fetish

    When I asked my wife why she soaked all my clothes in water, she said she was sent to destroy me. Whenever she starts her trouble, I will leave the house to sleep in a vehicle.”

    Those were the words of 36-year-old auto mechanic, Jimoh Hassan, as he prayed the Customary Court in Alakuko, a Lagos suburb, to dissolve his marriage to his wife, Jibola, over her alleged troublesome attitude.

    According to him, It got to a point that I was putting on my brother’s clothes because my wife had burnt all my clothes. Even when I decide to sleep in the house, I am always scared because of her terrible attitude.

    “She never shows any remorse when she steals my money; instead, she would call my bluff. If our marriage is dissolved, I want our child in my custody.”

    However, the 34-year-old woman said: “The problem started when my husband began to have an affair with a woman in her house. I can’t fathom why he loves the woman because she has three children for three different men. He gives her N1000, while he gives me N500 daily. My husband stopped buying foodstuff from the day he started having sexual relationship with the woman.

    “He doesn’t believe in repairing damaged items in the house, but prefers to sell them. My husband stopped eating at home when I complained that the N500 he gave me during the last Ileya festival was too small. I have always endured it all. But I would say he tried to be smarter by bringing our case to the court before me.

    “My husband claimed to be broke, so he declined to give me N5000 to start another business. But it was a great shock to me when I learnt that he paid the woman’s daughter’s medical bill when she was hospitalised.”

    Jibola also accused her husband of being fetish, saying: “After I destroyed some fetish stuff that he kept in the house, a strange boil developed in my son’s body. The boil discharges some smelly pus; and when the pus splashes on any other part of the body, another boil will grow on the spot. As of now, it is still a mystery to me why my son is afflicted with that strange ailment. Now, both my husband and the woman have stopped sleeping in the house. But sometimes, the woman sneaks into the house in the morning.

    “But in spite of his attitude, I still love my husband very much.”

    The union, which was not contracted under the Native and Customary Law, is blessed with a child.

    The court President, Mr. Olubode Sekoni, ordered Hassan to be giving his wife N8000 monthly, since he claimed to be giving her N2000 weekly.

    He advised the parties not to invade each other’s privacy and adjourned the case till November 10.

  • Sleep requirements

    “Sleep needs vary across ages and are especially impacted by lifestyle and health. Thus, to determine how much sleep you need, it’s important to assess not only where you fall on the “sleep needs spectrum,” but also to examine what lifestyle factors are affecting the quality and quantity of your sleep such as work schedules and stress. To get the sleep you need, you must look at the big picture”  so say the experts at the National Sleep Foundation (http://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need).

    Generally,  the medical prescriptions of sleep per day according to age are: newborns (0-2 months), 12-18 hours; infants (3-11 months), 14-15 hours; toddlers (1-3 years), 12-14 hours; preschoolers (3-5 years), 11-13 hours; school age children (5-10 years), 10-11 hours; teens (11-17 years), 8.5-9.5 hours; and adults (more than 18 years) 7-9 hours.  Long hours of sleep are important for proper childhood development.  Elders tend toneed fewer hours and more than one period of sleep in a day.  Some people have a natural desire for sleep in the afternoon especially after lunch and therefore have a habit of siesta.  This is in accordance with their own biologic clock.

    Many adults can sleep about 7-8 hours basal sleep regularly and this is required for their wellbeing.  The sustenanceof sleep can dip to fewer hours or shoot to longer periods every now and then, depending on our activities.  Missing sleep for some time because of work or events can put us into a sleep debt and we then require more than basal sleep to be optimal again.  We may decide to sleep longer during vacations.  Permanent changes in ability to sleep may depend on our state of health or on an extraordinary conditioning.  For example, “…research found that variables such as low socioeconomic status and depression were significantly associated with long sleep”(http:/sleepfoundation.org/howsleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need/page/0%2C1/).

    Since sleep is a necessary aspect of life, we should try to sleep well by preparing a good place of rest for our nightly sleep in spite of low finances.  The quantity and the quality of sleep are both important.

    Sleep can be taken care of, for example, by taking care of environmental comfort (including clean air, controlled heat or cold, noise, and light; by screening out mosquitoes and other pests; bykeeping out electricity generator fumes and other toxic influences, etc.); by sleeping on a clean and comfortable enough bed; by establishing a regular sleep cycle (e.g. going to sleep and waking around the same time daily, fixing what to do close to bedtime be it shower, prayer, reading, listening to music, or being with one’s partner; and by avoiding sleep disruptors such as coffee close to bedtime).

    Natural sleep is best but occasionally we may need to assist this on a short term basis.  Substances that promote sleep (pharmacologically termed hypnotics) include drugs such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien) which are commonly used as sleep aids and may be obtained over-the-counter in pharmacies; benzodiazepines and barbiturates which generally need  prescription; antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and doxylamine;  alcohol  (this does not work for addicts); melatonin which is a naturally occurring brain hormone that is released at night and regulates sleepiness and is sold as a drug; marijuana which produces relaxation and drowsiness in some people (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep). Substances that promote wakefulness and may disturb one’s ability to sleep include: dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine which are used to treat narcolepsy (dangerously excessive daytime sleep); caffeine, cocaine and crack cocaine; empathogen-entactogens keep users awake with intense euphoria (“ecstasy”); methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta); methylphenidate; tobacco;  analepticsModafinil and Armodafinil are prescribed to treat narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, shift work sleep disorder, and other conditions causing excessive daytime sleepiness(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep).

    Irrespective of one’s social or economic status or happiness in life, good and regular sleep should enhance good health, a sound mind, mental sharpness, learning, a feeling of well-being, emotional balance, productivity, creativity, physical vitality, personal efficiency, and peak performance.  If you suffer from sleep problems, do not take over- the-counter drugs for more than a few days (e.g. 3 days) and see your doctor before any underlying problem progresses.

    Dr. ‘Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA.   For any comments or questions on this column, please email bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 08160944635.

  • ‘I sleep with knife because of my husband’

    •I caught her with another man, claims husband

    Suliat Onakoya broke down in tears before the Customary Court, Agege, the popular Lagos suburb, as she sought the dissolution of her marriage to Waheed Onakoya for being “violent and uncaring.”

    “This is the second year he left home and I have been responsible for our rent. Each time he comes home, he would always threaten to beat me to death if I don’t leave his house. He told the landlord to eject me, but he couldn’t because I don’t owe him. I sleep with a knife because I am afraid he may attack me at night. I was hinted by my co-tenants that he beat his previous wife to a coma. He beats me over trivial issues. I don’t love him anymore; I want a dissolution,” she pleaded.

    Onakoya, who debunked the allegation, said: “I work in a neighbouring state; I only come home at weekends. Painfully, I once caught my wife with another man in our room. She enjoys listening to gossips. However, I love her and still want to be part of her.”

    The court president, Mr Philip Williams, advised the parties to maintain peace and urged Suliat to stop sleeping with a knife. He fixed a mediation session for the couple and ordered them to bring two relations each.

    He adjourned the case till September 11.

  • How lack of adequate sleep affects workers

    How lack of adequate sleep affects workers

    Over half of workers in West Africa (59 per cent) report that they have to sacrifice sleep to fit in personal and work commitments, either by waking up too early or by burning the midnight oil.

     

    Although flexible working is highlighted as a way to reduce commuting, creating more hours in the day for sleep or family life and improving productivity and staff retention, only 34 per cent of firms are rewarding management for encouraging the creation of a flexible workforce.

    According to Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workplace solutions, workers also highlight that a shorter commute (19 per cent) and greater flexibility of location (24 per cent) would give them more time spend with their families as well as to catch some extra sleep, but businesses can also benefit from introducing greater flexibility which is reported to improve productivity (51 per cent) and help retain staff (90 per cent).

    These are some of the key findings of a global survey by Regus, based on interviews with more than 24,000 business-people from over 90 countries. “Lack of sleep is clearly detrimental to workers health and happiness with long working hours closely linked to heart disease,” says Joanne Bushell, Vice President Africa, Regus.

    Respondents highlight that a shorter commute and more flexibility over work location would help them spend more time with their families, finally spelling an end to sleepless nights filled with catching up on work or personal tasks that couldn’t be squeezed into the day.

    Key Findings and Statistics

    Globally about 29 per cent of workers are sleeping less than they wish to fit all their commitments and in West Africa about 59 per cent of workers are sacrificing sleep to fit in work and personal commitments, while over 27 per cent feel they have to overcompensate for time taken off for personal matters.

    Workers highlight a shorter commute and location flexibility as ways of helping them spend more time with their families. But businesses can benefit too, as flexible work is thought to improve productivity and help staff retention. Yet currently management is being rewarded for encouraging a flexible work environment only in half of firms.

    Bushell continues: “This survey shows that allowing employees to work closer to home in professional and fully efficient environments can have an important impact on family life and provide workers with a few more minute skip each morning.”

    The Regus boss added, “But the benefits are not just for workers, firms can also improve productivity and retention by introducing flexible working. In spite of the win-win benefits that flexible working can bring on both employee and company side, there is evidently still plenty of grounds for improvement as over half of West African firms do not recognise or reward managers for encouraging the creation of a flexible workforce.”

  • What losing sleep does to your body

    What losing sleep does to your body

    A recent survey indicated that one third of UK population suffers from lack of sleep. Lack of sleep is defined as continues and deviant inability to get enough sleep. Symptoms include waking up early and trouble getting sleep. Consequences include feeling exhausted, unable to concentrate on easy tasks and irritable.

    Sleep is predominant for end number of reasons. Lack of sleep can lead to many health problems both long-term and short-term consequences. In the short term, losing sleep can affect mood, judgments, ability to learn and retaining what we have learnt, can increase the risk of injury and accidents, headache and dizziness In the long term, lack of sleep may lead to chronic health problems including diabetes, obesity, heart related diseases, depression and even early mortality.

    A perfect eight hours of sleep is important to have a healthy body. Due to high work pressures like long working hours, work related goals, number of sleeping hours have reduced tremendously.  A recent survey suggested that lack of sleep can cause stroke, high blood pressure, rapid aging, and low energy levels during the day, and stress in the immune system, poor concentration and mental sluggishness. It causes accidents. Lack of sleep can kill sex drive. Lack of sleep ages your skin, losing sleep can make you to gain weight.

    Sleepiness caused many major disastrous accidents in the history like Exxon Valdez oil spill, nuclear meltdowns at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.  Most of the road accidents are occurred only because of drowsiness and poor-quality of sleep.

    Sleep plays a key role in learning and thinking.  Losing sleep blocks these cognitive processes.  Lack of sleep impairs alertness, attention, reasoning, concentration and problem solving.  When you sleep in the night various sleep cycles combine your dreams in your mind. If you are suffering with lack of sleep, you can’t retain what you have experienced and learned during the day time.

    According to a new survey men and women who are suffering with insomnia report less interest in sex and lower libidos.  Research from Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism indicates that men who suffer with lack of sleep have low levels of testosterone. Over the long run, losing sleep can contribute of depression and anxiety.  Insomnia is also one of the bad symptoms of depression.

    Chronic sleep loss can bring dark circles under the eyes, lackluster skin and fine lines. If you didn’t get enough sleep, you can experience puffy eyes and sallow skin.  If you are suffering with lack of sleep, your body will release cortisol which is stress hormone.  Uncontrolled release of cortisol damages skin collagen which is a protein that keeps skin elastic and smooth.

    Over a long time, lack of sleep enhances hunger and apatite, ultimately which leads to obesity.  Lack of sleep may interrupt your judging skills. Losing sleep will double the risk of death from heart related diseases.    People who are suffering with insomnia are prone to take poor judgments.

    If you are suffering with lack of sleep consider seeking doctor advice.  If you fall short of money, you can apply for loans, make sure you are getting along with payment protection insurance. If you are out of job or ill, you can apply for PPI claims. 

    About the Guest Author:
    My name is Evita.  I am a tech writer from UK.  I am into Finance.  Catch me @financeport