You don’t have to be a doctor to realize that the alarm clock suddenly rings is bad for your heart. Now scientists have confirmed this. A study conducted by Japan’s National Institute of industrial health found that participants who were awakened by a sudden alarm had higher blood pressure and faster heart rate than those who woke up naturally after sleeping. Dr. Chris edsinkosky of Edinburgh sleep center explained that some subtle changes in the body during sleep make us prone to illness in the morning, and alarm bells only exacerbate this process.
In the second half of the night, the normal physiological functions of the body are not adjusted well. This means that fluctuations in blood pressure, heart rate and respiration are more extreme than usual. Another reason is that the body is lying flat and in a relatively static state, and the blood becomes thicker, accompanied by a certain degree of blood coagulation. The action of getting up may also lead to problems, because usually the blood pressure level will fluctuate greatly at that time. In addition, there will be sudden and loud alarm bells, and sometimes the body can’t cope.
The alarm will also increase your overall stress level. Sudden noise can cause the body’s protective conditioned reflex – “fight or escape”, which increases adrenaline levels. Dr. mark Atkinson, who specializes in how to deal with this disease, believes that although the bedside clock may be good for you to go to work on time, if this activated state lasts for days, weeks and months, it will lead to chronic stress. Stress can lead to high blood pressure, sleep problems and mental depression. If you are suddenly awakened during deep sleep, your ability to think about problems will undoubtedly be seriously affected, so that it is like getting drunk.
Scientists have found that when people who are asleep are awakened, their short-term memory ability, cognitive ability and even calculation skills will be affected. The findings have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The best performance of those who participated in the wake-up test by alarm clock was only 65% of their normal state, which was equivalent to getting drunk – and the performance of participants was worse than that of those who were deprived of 24 hours of sleep. Although the severe effects will gradually decrease in the first ten minutes after waking up, some damages can be found within two hours after waking up. The researchers said that this result will affect those staff who need to perform their duties in the best state immediately after being awakened, such as firefighters, doctors and other workers dealing with emergencies.
It seems that human beings have never been awakened suddenly by loud noise in the dark. Instead, they should wake up naturally with a rising red sun every day, as our ancestors did. Experts suggest that it is best not to use an alarm clock. If you have to use an alarm clock, you must keep the alarm clock at least 1 meter away from your head when sleeping, so as to minimize the adverse effect of alarm noise.
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