The Dark Side of Mobile Addiction: How it Wreaks Havoc on Your Sleep

 

The deep stages of sleep—the part of sleep that allows the brain and body to repair and rejuvenate from the day's wear and tear. According to the study, monitoring under laboratory conditions showed the initial ‘light’ phases of sleep in the subjects were affected. In addition, “exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep, believed to be important, for recovery from daily wear and tear, are adversely affected

Electroencephalographic recordings documented prolonged latency reaching stage 3 sleep(Deep sleep Transition) and a decreased amount of stage 4 sleep(cerebral sleep) in subjects exposed to the wireless communication signals.

The research also found that those exposed to mobile phones during their sleep appear to have more headaches than those not exposed. Those who were actually exposed to the radiation took longer to get into deep sleep. They also spent less time in the deepest part of sleep.

The participants took an average of about six minutes longer to reach the deep stage of sleep than when they had received the "sham" exposure. They also spent an average of eight minutes less time in the deepest "stage 4" sleep.

the radiation can trigger depression, mood swings, ADHD-like symptoms, and personality changes, and impair concentration and academic performance.

Some sleep researchers think today's teens are loading up on "junk sleep" — the sleep equivalent of junk food — because they sleep with so many distracting devices: cell phones tucked under their pillows, handheld computer games on the bedside table, TVs, or music playing in the background.

 "We have an epidemic of obesity and we have an epidemic of junk sleep," says Dr. Morris Bird, head of Florida Hospital's Center for Sleep Disorders. "With our 24-hour days, the availability of all these things — all of these things are like a big apple pie that is sitting in front of them — and they can't resist."

 At a time when parents are busy trolling store aisles for the latest electronics for their kids, it appears that American teens are getting more gadgets and less quality sleep.

Competing with sleep:

 In a 2006 poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 97 percent of teens said they have at least one electronic item, such as a television, computer, phone, or music device in their bedroom. On average, sixth graders reported having more than two electronic gadgets in their room, while high-school seniors said they have four. In the survey, teens with four or more electronic devices in their bedrooms were much more likely than their peers to get an insufficient amount of sleep. "These devices keep you awake. They are in competition with sleep," says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a Brown University psychiatry professor who specializes in the sleep-wake pattern of children and adolescents. "The message we're trying to send is: Sure, you can have these gadgets, but do you have to have them in the bedroom?" The problem, says Carskadon, is two-fold. Not only do teens tend to stay up later, playing video games or surfing the Internet in their bedrooms while their parents have already gone to sleep, but many kids leave the TV or iPod, or telephone on all night. And the noise from those gadgets can wake them up repeatedly during the night. Making matters worse, any gadget with lights — such as a computer monitor left on all night — can trick the brain into thinking it's daytime.

 Moody teens

 Researchers haven't yet studied the effect of sleeping with a cell phone tucked under your pillow, but studies suggest that televisions disrupt sleep. "After two hours of sleep, the child wakes up, the TV's on and there's something on that they want to watch. So they wake up and watch," says Carskadon. "Two things have happened: First, their sleep is disrupted. And second, now they're getting light, which can impact their sleep rhythm."

So what's happening to a generation growing up on junk sleep? They're becoming a generation of sleepy, sometimes moody, and irritable teens who doze off in school.

"What parents probably experience most is the difficulty waking the teen up in the morning," says Carskadon. "The teachers will see it more. They'll see what I call the 'slack-jawed droolers,' the kids who are not with it in the morning."

 Not enough rest

The National Sleep Foundation says school-aged children and adolescents need at least nine hours of sleep a night, but in a national survey conducted in 2006, only 20 percent of American teens said they get nine hours a night. Nearly half sleep less than eight hours on school nights and 28 percent of high-school students reported falling asleep in school at least once a week.

 Sleep Disorders

 Specially NREM(Non-Rapid Eye Movement ) Sleep or Slow-wave Sleep or Orthodox sleep is called Dreamless sleep which comprises 70% to 80% of our sleep. So in the 3 & 4 stages of NREM sleep is disturbed. The sleep disorders are as follows

 a) Sleepwalking (somnambulism)

b)Sleep talking (somniloquy)

c)Night terror (pavor nocturnes)

d)Bruxism (tooth grinding )

e)Nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting) & along with it synchronized activity of the brain is tampered with.

Effects on general healthSome members of the public have attributed a diffuse collection of symptoms to low levels of exposure to electromagnetic fields at home. Reported symptoms include headaches, anxiety, suicide and depression, nausea, fatigue, and loss of libido. To date, scientific evidence does not support a link between these symptoms and exposure to electromagnetic fields. At least some of these health problems may be caused by noise or other factors in the environment, or by anxiety related to the presence of new technologies.

Conclusions from scientific researchIn the area of biological effects and medical applications of non-ionizing radiation approximately 25,000 articles have been published over the past 30 years. Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields. However, some gaps in knowledge about biological effects exist and need further research.

Disclaimer:

The above information and images were taken from different sites, it should be practiced/advised by a professional person.

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