Why our health is important

Thanks to errors of eating and drinking, and perennial anxiety that dogs present-day life; even the elementary life needs like 'sleep' are hardly met. Insomniacs pass difficult nights lying on bed awake. If by any chance they do catch a nap, the slightest of noise usurps it. And then once again there are desperate attempts to find sleep. But sleep, as if, plays truant.

Sleep disturbance, like coughs and the common cold, becoming commonplace. In the initial stages, people try to fight this malady by taking recourse to sleep-inducing drugs. But over some time, medicines start failing. Pills are no panacea for lack of sleep. On the contrary, they carry with them a host of side effects and serious ailments. So when you are unable to sleep on time, don't be your physician and do pill-popping, but take recourse to simple sleep-inducing techniques. It isn't the sufferers themselves who do trespassing, at times even trained Doctors to give them needless doses and prolong their ailment. Doubtless, these shortcuts are no remedy for insomnia mania.

What these instant measures do is to wave problems just for a while. So it is worth your while to search cure in the core of your heart, rather than in a Doctor's clinic. Because if the problem persists 1or long, it may take a serious tum and grow into intractable insomnia. Pernicious sleeplessness leads to mental aberrations, difficult breathing, and sleepwalking where a person suddenly goes out on a walk at mid of night. Sleep is as vital for our tired body as a charger is for the spent battery. It relaxes our muscles and other body systems so that we are fit enough to face the challenges of the day ahead.

So what is good for your health?

There is no clear opinion on how many hours of sleep would suffice for a man in good health. The quantum of sleep fluctuates depending on a person's health profile. As a man ages, hours of sound sleep comes down. A newborn pegs 18 hours of sleep in a day. But the same child when 10-12 years old, comes down on the scale and sleeps for only about 9 to 10 hours. For an adult, 7-8 hours are enough. Some people though are refreshed even by a five-hour nap.

Yet some people doze in bed for 10-12 hours and yet

remain lost and tired. By far the single most cogent reason for lack of ’sleep is lack of physical exercise. Urbanites, generally, avoid physical exercise. Their sedentary lifestyle, like sitting in shops and offices, entails no physical exertion. Even on errands, motor vehicles are used, reducing physical labor to zero level. Significantly, it is only by manual Nutritious foods are essential for perfect body growth work or physical exercise that sound sleep is ensured. The reason is that exercise leads to wear and tear in body muscles-for whose repair and regeneration- -the body must rest by way of sound sleep. It is noteworthy that physical exercise ought to be taken only during the morning hours. At dusk or night--only strolling is advisable.

How can our health care be improved?

At dinner, only light and easily digestible food should be taken. That too well two hours before the stipulated time to go to bed. Eating fruits post supper helps digest your food. A rich diet can stress your digestive system leading to disturbed sleep. Hence avoid heavy meals and sweetmeats at night. Also contraindicated, after sunset, are stimulant drinks and food substances. Coffee, cola, tea, and even chocolate contain spur element caffeine which agitates the mind and a whole lot of nervous system. That jettison's sleep. Hence these should never be taken after 4 p.m. the day. Even cigarette, which contains antisleep nicotine, shouldn't be smoked in the fall of dusk.

Some over-the-counter drugs, like those given for Asthmatic patients, are sleep-disturbing in nature. Insomnia follows medication by such drugs, one shouldn't be overly worried. Because the rhythm of normal sleep comes back soon after the medication is Over. Preparing for good sleep is worth its while. Before going to bed, tensions of day-long work, hopes, fears, and disappointment should all be consigned to the dustbin. Don't go into flashbacks of what you did in the day just concluded. For this, you ought to make up your mind firmly two hours before retiring to bed. This will gear you up favorably and shorn of petty irritants, you will sleep like a baby. Should any wayward idea of negative emotion come near you, shove it firmly. And replace them instantly with such sweet memories as please and pamper you.

Not all people are religiously 1nclined. For such people, catching a good night's sleep needs a meticulous workout. Do gardening, play games, or do any piece of work which can tire you physically. Once exhausted, sleep automatically comes calling. If sleep eludes you, get up from your bed. Do a bit of reading or some other work till your eyes feel heavy. For a good night's repose, your lifestyle must be balanced and well organized. Liquor, cigarette, and excess tea drinking can trigger the onset of insomnia. So, it is for you whether you Choose a well-regulated lifestyle or the disease of remaining awake at night. Some physical ailments precipitate insomnia. Whatever be the reason, it must be dug out for solutions. To begin with, the problem should be addressed through benign methods. If such remedies fail, then Doctor should be consulted without hesitation.

Apart from fulsome sleep, even naps of shorter duration too can be extremely refreshing. Experts advocate snatching a nap post-lunch Take care that siesta doesn't last longer than 20 to 25 minutes. The problem of insomnia is cosmopolitan. According to one survey, every seventh Briton, and every third American is doffed by difficult sleep. insomnia, doubtless, is a derangement of the nervous system rather than a mere physical ailment. Hence corrective measures mandate radical changes in the way we look at life, and not drugs alone. Keep needless worries at distance. Accept status quo sportingly. Work hard-physically. What you can't change (for the better), ought not to be worried about for sake of your mental health. Do think about tomorrow, plan for it, but don't panic about it. The burden of past and future times, if pulled along with the weight of present-day challenges, can bring on knees even the bravest of brave. Hence the saying: Let bygones be bygones.

SPORTS AND WELL BEING

Courtesy sports icons like Sania Mirza, P.T. Usha, and Karnam Maheshwari, women have turned to sports, albeit a bit differently Clubs, indoor games, and playing in a park with children are preferred activities. Playing cards, ‘ and scrambles are also their favored resorts.

Women from elite families engage in a game of money kittee called 'committee Talana's.

Depending on their paying power this game sees thousands and even lakhs of rupees changing hands in socialite parties. Pelf and prosperity are brazenly displayed. Ladies in such groups generally discuss their apparel and ornaments. But games like hockey, table tennis, swimming, and cricket are hardly talked about, leave alone indulging in them for fun and exercise. Such damsels believe they are tender dolls draped in expensive clothes and jewelry from head to toe.

Hence, if at all they must play, the game ought to showcase their wealth and riches.

DO YOU PLAY ENOUGH?

Some figure-conscious ladies try playing a bit of badminton, table tennis, and such like games, hoping to shed some extra weight, but paradoxically, end up gossiping with neighbors, relatives, and others present on the ground, after a mere 5 to 10 minutes of actual participation in the game. Thanks to the idiot box, and its crazy programs like Sas- bahu et al, women get enough material to talk endlessly and waste time. So, where is the time to play games?

Games are meant to promote physical and mental health so that people forget their worries for a while and concentrate on their health parameters. Some high society gals, who are cognizant of this reality, are fewer in number. For women of the middle-class and lower class, this health awareness was as much lacking in past, as it is now. Albeit their environment has changed. Earlier din and bustle of domestic chores was enough to exercise them and keep them in fine fettle. But now, thanks to myriad modern gadgets, housekeeping doesn't entail much physical labor. Consequently, the fair sex is falling prey to a host of diseases like spondylitis, obesity, and blood pressure. What with most of them used to television viewing and gossiping in their spare time.

Then some women fight shy of descending on the playground. To some others, their family norms don't permit playing outdoors. These days computers and the internet are a rage not only for housewives but for young girls as well. To remain slim and trim, these damsels will prefer dieting to do sports. This is not to say that women are untouched by the growing popularity and relevance of outdoor games, but the few that are indeed sports-loving are choosing them as careers. Amateurism is out. That is, women engaged in other careers or vocations, have no time for games. Sports, it seems, has become a verisimilitude of tv and internet engagements.