|
偶然的机会，在一位母亲的博客里看到这篇文章，原作者是一位医学博士。原来在睡眠问题上，中西医的结论竟是如此惊人的一致。
这篇文章的观点很新鲜，内容直白易懂，我从中医角度也分享了一些自己的看法，欢迎大家后台交流。
毕竟一天24小时，有8小时在床上度过。不要辜负这三分之一的人生。
THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP
睡眠的重要意义
Susan R. Johnson MD, FAAP, 2/3/2000
苏珊·R ·约翰逊博士，美国儿科协会成员，2000年2月3日
I still struggle getting my almost 7 year old son asleep by 8:00. It seems there is a magic window. If we eat by 5:00 and I start slowing down his activities by 6:oo then there is a good chance that he will fall to sleep soon after reading stories at 7:30. If I don't have dinner ready until 6:00 or 7:00 and slow down doesn't begin until 8:00 or 8:30 then my son seems to get a second wind that keeps him awake and active till 10:00 or 10:30 at night. The next day is difficult for him. It is hard for him to get up, eat breakfast, and get to school on time. He is tired and more irritable the entire day. What is happening?
直到现在，我还在为了能让七岁的儿子在8点钟以前上床睡觉而努力奋斗。关于这件事，仿佛有一扇「魔力之窗」在从中捣鬼：如果我们能够在5点钟开始吃晚餐，6点开始逐步减缓他活跃程度，那么他在7点30分听完故事后立刻入睡的机率就很大。可如果我直到6点或7点才准备晚餐，减缓过程就要推迟到8点或8:30才开始，那么儿子就仿佛被吹进了第二股「风」，让他保持清醒活跃直到10点或10:30才能入睡。接下来的第二天就会很糟糕，他很难按时起床、吃早餐，以及准时到校。一整天他都会很疲惫并且更容易急躁。这到底是怎么一回事？
评 古时候没有电，日出而作日落而息。孩子的心天真无染，身体的状态更接近自然律动，所以晚饭后就自然而然的准备睡觉了。按子午流注，亥时（21～23点）手少阳三焦经旺，子时（23～1点）足少阳胆经旺，而孩童是少阳之体，这两个时辰若处于良好的睡眠状态会有利于生长发育。
If you go to see an anthroposophical physician with these complaints, then chances are your child will end up with a remedy for the liver. Often Hepatodoron (made from the leaves of the vine, Vitus vinifera, and the wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca) is given. It seems that the liver is involved in our ability to have a good nights sleep. It regulates our energy level for the next day and relates to our overall feelings of contentment or depression. The liver follows the cycle of the sun. Around 6:00 in the evening it wants to go to sleep and starts to store up the sugars (glycogen) to be used for the next day. It doesn't want to process any big meals (especially ones high in protein or fat after 3 pm).
如果你带着这些关于入睡问题的牢骚去咨询一位人智学医师，那么很可能您孩子的肝脏会因此得到补救。他们通常会建议服用一种名为Hepatodoron的营养补充剂（人智学医药公司Weleda旗下的一种营养补充剂，以Vitus vinifera葡萄树的叶子和Fragaria vesca野生草莓为原料制成，可以促进肝脏修复和排毒）。如此看来，肝脏与我们是否能有良好的睡眠息息相关。它掌控着我们第二天的能量水平，并且关系到我们的整体情绪，满足或是抑郁。肝脏跟随太阳的周期运作。大约在晚上6点时它想要休息，以便开始储存各类糖份（以转化为肝糖原）以供第二天使用。这时它不想处理任何食物（特别是那些下午三点以后摄入的高脂肪或高蛋白质的食物）。
评 肝脏功能与睡眠、情绪息息相关，内经说肝为「将军之官」，一个人是否有冲劲和激情，就看肝的能量了。晚上六点足少阴肾经旺盛，肾属水，水生木，此时正是涵养肝木，储存肝脏能量的时候。所以晚上吃少点清淡点，让肝好好休息。
When our children (and us) stay up late at night we affect the liver's metabolism. It can no longer simply store sugar. Our body, by being awake and active, needs sugar in the blood stream and so we force the liver to reverse its process and breakdown glycogen to provide this sugar. We get a second wind, a burst of sugar in our blood stream, and yet we are really depleting our energy for the next day. Our liver can't store up the glycogen it needs for the next day and so the next day we have a liver that is depleted of glycogen. Our body THEN requires us to release stress hormones from our adrenal glands to keep us functioning. These hormones act to provide more sugar in the blood, but they also accelerate our heart rate, increase our blood pressure, and suppress our immunity (we get colds more easily). You can tell when stress hormones are acting since one also develops cold hands and cold feet during the day from the vasoconstriction of the blood vessels to the hands and feet.
当孩子（以及我们成人）熬夜时，肝的新陈代谢就会受到影响，以至于无法正常存储糖份。我们的身体为了继续保持清醒，就需要在血液中消耗糖份，所以我们就等于在强迫肝脏颠倒正常的程序释放肝糖原以提供糖份。当糖份重新被释放到血液中运转时，我们就获得了第二股能让人重新振作起来的「风」。但实际上这是在透支我们第二天所需要的能量。因为肝脏无法备足第二天所需要的肝糖原，接下来的一天我们将会有一个糖原耗尽的肝脏。为了能够保持正常运转，身体就会命令我们的肾上腺释放出应激激素（stress hormones ）。这些激素会起到为血液提供糖份的作用，但也会使心率加快、血压上升，且抑制了免疫力（我们会更容易感冒）。当应激激素发挥作用时你是能够感觉到的，因为它还会引发血管收缩以至于白天会有手脚冰凉的现象。
评 这段话虽然大部分篇幅说的是肝，实际应该关注的是肾。因熬夜致使肾上腺释放应激激素，这是强行激发肾阳，透支元气的表现，儿童经常熬夜可能出现早熟、性格暴躁、抵抗力低下等症状。
The combination of stress hormones and too little glycogen in the liver makes us develop a craving for sugar. When we eat something really sweet (like candy or cookies), especially on an empty stomach, the excess load of sugar overstimulates our pancreas to produce too much of another hormone, insulin. Too much insulin causes our cells to take up or absorb too much sugar so that there isn't much sugar left in our blood. We become hypoglycemic with a low blood sugar. We feel tired, irritable and lightheaded and, for children, their body movements become more impulsive and overactive (less purposefull). Being hypoglycemic makes us crave sugar again and the whole process repeats itself throughout the entire day.
而应激激素与过少肝糖原的组合，会使我们产生对糖的渴望。当我们吃一些很甜的东西时（如糖果或饼干），特别是在空腹的情况下，过量的糖负荷会过度刺激我们的胰腺大量产生另一种激素：胰岛素。过多的胰岛素使我们的细胞获取或吸收过多的糖，也就没有多少糖能留在血液当中了。因此，我们会患上低血糖综合症：感到疲惫、急躁和头昏眼花，并且对儿童来说，他们的肢体动作会变得更加冲动和过度活跃（无目的性的）。低血糖的症状又会再次引发我们对糖的渴望，以至于在整整一天当中不断重复这个恶性循环的过程。
评 熬夜想甜食，而刺激胰岛素大量分泌，导致低血糖综合症。中医角度看，这是心脾两虚的缘故。熬夜时需要大量额外能量，甜食能最迅速的提供，此时脾会积极工作起来，以运化甜食。而这个过程又会消耗能量，且甘味性缓易生湿气，陷入伤脾的恶性循环。
Some children and adults are more sensitive to these changes than others. Their pancreas may release more insulin in response to sugar. Some children and adults release more stress hormones in response to sleep deprivation, but this physiologic response occurs in all of us. For children that are already very active and have difficulties paying attention in school, going to bed early and cutting down on sugar really can help the child and family function better.
有些儿童和成年人对这种变化比他人更加敏感，他们的胰腺会因糖份的影响而释放出比一般人更多的胰岛素，有些则会释放更多的应激激素以应对睡眠不足，但这种生理反应会发生在我们所有人身上。对于那些已经非常活跃并且难以在学校保持专注力的孩子来说，早睡和减少糖份的摄入真的会帮助这些孩子和他们的家庭更好地正常运转。
评 非常活跃、难以专注是少阳升发过度的表现。睡眠是阳入于阴的过程，良好的睡眠状态有助于保持身心的和谐。而这样的孩子宜疏不宜堵，适当的运动也很重要，在草坪上玩耍，多与土地接触也有助于多动的孩子沉静性情。
They say that any sleep you get before midnight is restorative and counts for double, and therefore it is far better to go to bed early (7:00 to 8:00 for a young school-age child and 9:00 to 10:00 for an adult) and wake up early to get your work done. Maybe this is the truth in that saying by Benjamin Franklin: Early to bed, early to rise, makes (one) healthy, wealthy, and wise.
有一种说法是：如果你能在午夜前上床睡觉那么身体的修复程度会增加一倍。因此早睡会带来很多好处，而把需要完成的工作放到早上起床后同样可行（建议学龄儿童应在7点到8点之间上床睡觉，而成人则在9点到10点之间）。也许就像本杰明·富兰克林说的至理名言一样：早睡早起，让你同时拥有健康、财富与智慧。
评 对于睡觉时间，西方研究和中医理论相当一致。睡眠是阳入于阴，少阳为枢机，而亥时、子时均是少阳经盛，正是睡眠之门打开的时刻。所以儿童应戌时（19～21点）上床，成人则在亥时（21～23点）睡觉为好。
原文来源：http://
译文来源：http://blog.sina.com.cn/indigokids
编辑：福光@活法儿
- The End -
·回复「节气」，赏天然的物候更迭·
|
