A facetious answer to this question is that proper sleep is important to all athletes regardless of age.  The general purpose of sleep is to restore brain function and we require good quality sleep all throughout our lives in order to achieve this primary goal.  I think we all can agree that no matter the task at hand, whether it is a sporting event or a highly intellectual project, we are best served with having optimal brain function in order to perform at our best.  For the athlete specifically, a well rested brain is better able to make decisions, be creative, communicate, be motivated and withstand the mental and physiologic rigors of the competition or training exercise.  Recent data also suggests that learning a new athletic skill is closely tied to the quality and quantity of our rapid eye movement sleep (REM), a time in our sleep when we typically dream.  These studies showed that athletes’ skills improved after a good night’s sleep in the absence of further training. Although the actual purpose of dreams is still debated, it appears that one purpose of sleep is to mold and remodel cerebral neural networks to perfect new skills that were attempted the day before.  The benefits of sleep are not only observed within the brain.

During sleep the body rests and there is a reduction in heart rate, blood pressure and temperature.  When we reach stage 4 sleep, our deepest sleep, we are in a hibernation mode that allows for the greatest repair and recovery of our muscles and organs.  Cortisol, our stress hormone, is significantly reduced to allow our tissues to regenerate.  Conversely, growth hormone is produced and released from the pituitary gland into our circulation to allow for muscle growth and repair, bone building, and fat burning.  Glucose metabolism is also regulated in sleep by hormones such as insulin which stores glucose in muscle and the liver.  Buildup of glycogen (stored glucose) is particularly important for endurance athletes.  Sleep is also vital to maintain our immune function as demonstrated in studies of humans with reduced sleep who developed increased infections and elevated white blood counts.  Total sleep deprivation studies performed in rats showed how the animals would gorge themselves of food yet grow skinnier.  Eventually the rats would lose their ability to regulate body temperature and die.  Autopsies revealed that the rats died of bacterial infections presumably from an acquired immune deficiency. 

The above highlights the vital role of sleep in our everyday lives to maintain a healthy body and mind.  The necessity for good quality sleep is no less important after the age of 30 than before.  However, after the age of 30, and as we age, we tend to receive less sleep as other sleep reducing factors enter our lives.  Raising young children, the stress of work, a snoring spouse, frequent travel, sedentary lifestyle, and the development of sleep disorders are all common causes that contribute to sleep loss after the age of 30.  Although most people require at least 8 hours of sleep a night, a National Sleep Foundation poll demonstrated that the average number of hours of sleep for most working adults is 6.8 hours.  Such sleep loss over a long period of time leads to symptoms of sleep deprivation and what has been termed our “National Sleep Debt”.  Not surprisingly 37% of adults in America report sleepiness that interferes with their daily activities.  This has also spurned a huge sleep industry for products that will aid those who have trouble sleeping and those who have trouble staying awake and there are many who are seeking remedies to help both problems.  Often these people end up in the hands of sleep specialist physicians who use diagnostic testing and various pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic modalities to treat sleep disorders. 

As a sleep physician, I have seen, first hand, the devastating effects chronic sleep deprivation has on the lives of people.  I have a patient who lost his left arm because he fell asleep driving.  Unfortunately he drove with his left arm out the window and then brushed up against an orange truck.  I have seen patients who lost their jobs and become divorced from their spouses due to personality changes and inability to concentrate.  I have seen patients in their 50’s with early dementia from chronic untreated sleep apnea.  I have seen a physician who broke his hip and spent 2 months in rehabilitation because he fell asleep at the wheel and his car ran off the road.  I have seen patients lose the ability to speak and use one half of their body due to a stroke that occurred in their sleep from untreated sleep apnea.  I have seen young people (30’s) with congestive heart failure due to sleep apnea.  The reason I enjoy being a sleep physician is that it is clear that most of the above is treatable and preventable with education, and with proper diagnosis and treatment.  As a physician, there is no better feeling than to see the happy faces of those that, like wearing glasses for the first time, are able experience the world in a whole new light.