Early to bed, early to rise, not too wise?

Sleep Issues

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Benjamin Franklin’s words made an impact until James Thurber, in the New Yorker, turned the idiom on its head with ‘early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead.’

 Irrespective of what either of them said, the fact remains that sleep is considered important. But these days, a normal person can never follow his desired sleep routine due to a variety of factors. There is work, there are people and there are duties. 

Amaresh Kumar, in his wellness blog, writes, “(Sometimes) it is neither healthy nor advisable to follow this idiom…the normal time we actually feel sleepy and awaken, (is) decided by our bio-clock. This bio-clock is the body’s own internal time-keeper (which) regulates the body’s internal functioning, from body-heat to hormones’ secretions, blood pressure including sleep timings.”

No youngster believes that this saying holds true anymore. Says Anurag Verma, an MBA student, “Late nighters get a chance to be more creative as they get alone time at night. They might not be as ‘hard’ working as they counterparts during the day but could be more ‘smart’ working.” 

Shashvat Aditya, an engineering student at Manipal Institute of Technology, feels that a change in routine will always ruin one’s health. “Since all of us are brought up with the normal routines we grow up with, late nighters ruin their health. Try adjusting your routine according to your sleep timing but since the rest of the world doesn't follow that routine and since interaction with them is unavoidable, it's impossible to have your eight hour sleep without disturbance.”

Amaresh further comments, “A person’s bio-clock is encoded in his or her genes… there is some research that rhythmic oscillations of chromosomes determine the bio-clock… trying to change that is fighting your own body, with disastrous consequences in the long run.”Dr. I.P.S. Kochar, a pediatric and adolescent endocrinologist at Apollo Hospital, agrees that sleeping patterns have changed.

“These days, students are studying for their engineering and medical entrances. They sleep and wake up according to their study patterns. It is convenient to them, they are cracking those exams. If they are getting the amount of sleep required for the growth hormones to do their work, it is very well. Wealth wise, I do not see how sleep would affect it and wise, well, students are doing well,” he smiles.

Parents are always concerned about late nighters. Amaresh writes, “Make sure that it is the bio-clock and not some other cause for the sleeplessness. Once sure, it is better to spend time, money and energy in trying to creatively find ways to manage studies and other activities, than to try and change the person or child.”