Health Notes for the Farm

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 6, 15 December 1939, Page 543

Health Notes for the Farm

Contributed by the Department of Health

This Miracle - - of . . "Sleep"

God bless the man who first invented sleep, So Sancho Panza said, And so say I, And bless him also that he didn’t keep His great discovery to himself, nor try To make it, as the lucky fellow might, A close monopoly by : patent right.

EVERY mother, as she watches her sleeping babe, no doubt marvels at times at this wonderful law of Nature, this miracle “sleep,” which may be defined as a natural condition of insensibility more or less complete, or a period of recuperation for the body and the mind. As expressed by Leigh Hunt, “a gentle failure of perception creeps over you, the spirit of consciousness disengages itself once more, and with slow and hushing degrees, like a mother detaching her hand from that of a sleeping child, the mind seems to have a balmy lid closing over it like the eyeit is closed mysterious spirit has gone to take its airy rounds.”

Sleep has been described as a natural rhythm. It has been said that it bears a resemblance to the alternation of day and night, that rhythm is innate in Nature. After activity comes rest; after > energy, torpor; after mobility, quiescence; and after waking comes sleep, because it is a law of Nature that action and reaction are always equal and opposite. This rhythm, if it be so, is seen not only in man and animals, but also in the vegetable kingdom. ■ Witness, for instance, the leaves and flowers of many plants which open by day and close at night. However, although there have been no lack of theories as to the cause of sleep, there is no doubt that, without sleep, healthy and bodily life is impossible. Loss of Sleep It has been well said, “Without plenty of sleep, the activity .of a work-.

ing day is like a house built on sand.” Common sense tells us that the time and effort spent in educating a tired mind is largely wasted. According to an overseas medical authority, even nutrition, of which we hear so much in these days, is not of greater import ance as a factor in the health of the child than sleep. Man can fast for several weeks provided water is supplied, but loss of sleep even for a few days .may prove disastrous. However,- the loss of a certain amount of sleep should not be considered as- a forerunner of something dreadful. Persons often get much more sleep than they think they do. Almost every rule of hygiene and right-living could be quoted as a sleepproducer. Restlessness and insufficient sleep in adults may be due not so much to the work itself as to the manner of working, and particularly the foolish and utterly unnecessary habit of not

shutting down the business or professional part of the brain works for a reasonable time before retiring. Intellectual over-indulgence is an unwise form of excess, the consequence of which may be disastrous. Nature’s Bill . The ambitious student should therefore particularly guard himself in this direction. As Robert Louis Stevenson said of the industrious student, “He sows hurry and reaps indigestion; he puts a vast deal of activity out to interest, and receives a large measure of nervous derangement in return.” The grand laws of health are not violated without paying some penalty; Nature always sends in her bill. You might as well expect to plunge your hand into a crucible of molten metal and take it out unscathed. In a well-regulated mind sleep should come as it did to Napoleon—- “ Different matters are arranged in my head in drawers. I open one drawer and close another as I wish. I have never been kept awake by an involuntary pre-occupation of the mind. If I desire repose, I shut up all the drawers and sleep. . I have always slept when I wanted rest, and almost at will.” Rule of Bedroom To those troubled with sleeplessness, the rule of the bedroom is important. It should be quiet, cool, and with an open window, but . darkened, and the bed should be without hollows or inequalities. As a rule, light sleepers should avoid late and heavy meals. On the other hand, a glass of hot milk and a cracker biscuit may be helpful. The habit of rising and restlessly moving round at night should be avoided. A change of environment may be beneficial. Eyestrain is a fertile cause of insomnia. Restless sleep, as with headaches, calls for a thorough examination of the eyes. Drugs should be taken only under the- supervision of the family physician. Sometimes, want of sleep is accounted for by a real want of physical exercise, but such exercise should be. a real distraction and entered into with heart and mind. Golf, bowls, gardening, tramping, and such outdoor recreations usually promote sound, refreshing sleep, which is “a generous robber, giving back in strength' what it robs in time.”

Sleeplessness is a very common disorder in children. Apart from being a symptom of illness, it has many other causes. For instance, the young subject cannot be expected to cease an exciting pursuit and retire to profound slumber at a word of command. An hour spent before bedtime with a peaceful storybook and then the soothing words of a mother at the bedside produces that quiet attitude of mind which encourages sleep. Some modern parents appear to have lost sight of the fact that the nervous system of the young in process of development needs a great deal of sleep, and to deprive it of an adequate amount is to starve it to an extent that leads to various forms of nervous disorders, some of grave significance. Medical authorities and others agree that children four years of age need at least 12 hours’ sleep; five to seven years, 11 hours to 12 hours; and 12 to 14 years, nine to 10 hours. Noise and Sleep The relationship between noise and sleep is close, for, as the “British Medical Journal” points out in regard to children, the child who has slept in the midst of uproar will wake listless . and tired, and if the conditions persist his growth will suffer. The never-ending restlessness of modern city life manifests itself by noise far into the night. Think of an invalid whose chances of recovery mainly depend on uninterrupted sleep doomed to lie awake in some hospital or room by reason of the . thoughtlessness of some noisy home-bound party, or late vehicle traffic or noisy speeding motorcar or motor-cycle. The increasing traffic noises year by year have caused several hospitals in America with hundreds of thousands of . pounds invested in buildings and grounds seriously to consider moving to quieter quarters. It is encouraging to find that many of our local authorities are endeavouring to deal with this problem, for all people need a proper setting for rest and recuperation for the day’s work. “Early to Bed” At puberty, adolescence,. and “change of life” special attention is needed to secure the amount of sleep which each particular case needs. Regularity in time and duration of sleep is essential to the growing organism,

so the wise mother starts a regular bedtime from babyhood for her child and never deviates from this regularity. One of the most important forms of health education is to get ingrained in the child’s consciousness that early to bed and a long night’s rest is one of the essentials of good bodily and mental growth and fitness. It should be borne in mind that neglect of the rules of hygiene and right-living may cause sleeplessness, and that regularity in time and duration of sleep is important for mental and bodily health, and for. a sleep to “knit up the ravelled sleeve of care,” and be the “chief nourisher in life’s feast.”

11 Making New Zealand 11 If a New Zealander wishes to gain a concise yet comprehensive conception of the development of his own country, over the century just completed he can do no better than to obtain the full set of “Making New Zealand,” the pictorial surveys issued by the Department of Internal Affairs. These are 30 in number, and are Is per copy. For a full set of Centennial publications the price is £9 10s. (plus postage) for orders booked prior to December 31. The first five of the series to hand are outstanding both in quality and interest. These are no formal, dull-as-ditchwater history books, but are entertaining magazines. Although accuracy has been the guiding principle throughout, the authors . have ingeniously contrived ’to combine education with entertainment. . The magazines are profusely illustrated. While some of the photographs are, of necessity, . of an instructional nature, others are delightful examples of the camera’s art. Survey No. 1, “The Beginning,” traces the gradual evolution of New Zealand through millions of years until life eventually made its appearance. No. 2, “The Maori,” is full of interest, and No. 3, “Navigators and Explorers,” vividly describes the adventures of the first voyagers to New Zealand. In No. 4, “Whalers and Sealers,” the hazardous life of these early traders is graphically presented, with a wealth of authentic pictures . and drawings. The work of the early missionaries is described in No. 5,” “Missionaries and Settlers.” Other booklets in preparation are listed in an advertisement in this issue. As an authoritative . and concise summary of the development, of New Zealand these pictorial surveys are unequalled.