1/3 of a person's life is spent in sleep. And sleep is often accompanied by dreams.
Life is dull, but dreams are strange: winning the lottery, happy revenge, traveling through time and space, being chased, falling off a cliff... You can never imagine what dreams you will dream about when you go to bed tonight.
But do you know why people dream? What is the meaning of dreaming for the body? Have you heard that some dreams may be a symbol of illness? Today, Coco will take you on a quest for the "secret of dreams"!
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Why do people dream?
Do you think that when we go to sleep, the brain also starts to rest? Not really.
The human brain is 24 hours a day, and even when sleeping, a small number of brain cells are still active, busy processing some noisy signals received during the day, such as some images, events or sounds that are remembered during the day.
These active brain cells are our "dream makers". The more profound the events experienced during the day, the more active the brain cells are after sleeping, and the greater the possibility of dreaming.
Relevant studies have shown that each person has at least 4~5 dreams per night on average, which mostly occurs during the rapid eye movement period during sleep, and if you wake up at this time, you often remember what you dreamed; And if you feel like you're not dreaming, you're basically waking up during a non-REM period and then forgoting.
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Have these dreams often
It may be that the body is "alarming"
Dreams can not only bring us novel experiences, but also can be health "alarms".
Scientists pointed out that people are awake during the day, external stimuli cover up the weak signals of the disease, and at night the information entering the human body from the outside world is reduced, and the weak signals and information from the disease site are dominant, and it will continue to be sent to the relevant parts of the brain, resulting in a certain type of "nightmare" lingering.
Therefore, if you often have the following kinds of dreams, you should be careful whether there is a problem with your body.
1 Frequent nightmares: Be alert to neurodegeneration
In June 2022, the authoritative medical journal The Lancet sub-journal Electronic Clinical Medicine published a study that found after more than 7 years of follow-up:
Compared to normal dreams, people who have frequent nightmares (being attacked in dreams, playing animal roles in dreams, etc., waking up by nightmares) are 4 times more likely to experience cognitive decline in the next decade than others. At the same time, people who have frequent nightmares are also at higher risk of Parkinson's disease.
In 2023, Electronic Clinical Medicine published a follow-up study on the "relationship between dreams and disease", which found that:
If you have nightmares frequently between the ages of 7~11, you will increase the chance of cognitive decline (dementia) after a few decades.
If a person has frequent nightmares in childhood, they are 7 times more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease as an adult.
2 often have nightmares at 1~3 a.m. to be alert to hypoglycemia
For diabetic patients, if they often have nightmares at 1~3 in the morning, wake up early in the morning with unexplained dizziness, headache, obvious memory loss, soaked underwear after sweating, and hunger, etc., which may indicate nocturnal hypoglycemia.
Nocturnal hypoglycemia is often not easy to detect and cannot be corrected in time, which can easily lead to serious consequences. Therefore, it is recommended that sugar friends measure blood sugar before going to bed, if it is less than 5.6mmol/L, you can add meals appropriately to prevent hypoglycemia at night, and always have sugary drinks, sugar cubes, biscuits and blood glucose meters at the bedside.
3 Often dreams of drowning/choking: Be alert to sleep apnea
When sleep apnea occurs, the airway is blocked and the body is in a state of hypoxia, which may lead to nightmares such as drowning and suffocation.
People with sleep apnea syndrome often have the characteristics of loud snoring and sudden interruption, which not only affects sleep, but also is related to a variety of cardiovascular events such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia and heart failure, and may even die suddenly in sleep in severe cases.
Therefore, if sleep apnea is suspected, prompt medical attention for sleep monitoring is recommended. When you sleep daily, you can sew a pocket with a tennis ball on the back of your pajamas to help you sleep on your side and reduce the risk of hypoxia.
4 Often dream that a certain organ is beaten, be alert to the corresponding lesions
If you often dream that the corresponding part of an organ has been hit, stabbed, or other accidents, and even feels dull pain after waking up, you should be careful whether there is a problem with this organ.
For example, if you have a brain tumor or neurological disease, you may often dream of being hit on the head; When you have a tooth problem, you may often dream that your tooth is missing.
5 Dream of being chased and falling, and be alert to cardiovascular problems
If you often dream of being chased by gangsters or fierce beasts, want to run but can't run, after waking up, you will have palpitations, rapid heartbeat, sweating, etc., which may be insufficient blood supply to the coronary arteries.
If you often dream of stepping on the air and falling from a height and suddenly waking up, it may indicate occult heart disease or a problem with the blood vessels near the heart.
In addition, strange noises and strange sounds often heard in dreams may indicate a problem with the auditory center or nearby blood vessels; Often dreaming of flooding and struggling in the water may indicate an abnormality in the liver and kidney system...
【Tip】If you only have these dreams once in a while, you don't have to be suspicious. And if you often and frequently dream of similar scenes, it is best to be vigilant and seek medical attention for an examination in time so that you can intervene as soon as possible.
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Dreaming, and these unexpected benefits
In addition to possibly reflecting health, dreaming has unexpected benefits for your body, such as:
1 Helps consolidate memory
Most of the content of dreams is related to recent experiences, and REM dreams have vivid and clear characteristics, which can consolidate memories and help promote learning and growth.
2. Helps the brain to "detoxify" and maintain brain function
Scholars at the University of Tsukuba in Japan have studied dreaming in mice, measuring the speed of blood flow to the brain during the REM and non-REM phases, and then comparing it with the waking state.
The results showed that there was almost no difference in blood flow speed and wakefulness in the non-REM period, while the average blood flow velocity in the REM period increased by 2~3 times.
The researchers pointed out that during the rapid eye movement period, adenosine A2a receptors lead to increased blood flow to the brain, and the increased blood flow helps the brain remove a lot of waste products, which can help enhance memory and reduce the chance of developing neurodegenerative diseases.
3. Helps regulate mood
During the REM period, the amygdala of the brain is very active, which helps clear the brain of unpleasant emotions and helps restore psychological calm.
In addition, a Spanish study found that unpleasant dreams are also necessary for the brain, and experiencing these negative emotions in dreams helps us better process and control negative emotions when awake.
4. Inspire creativity
Freud said: "Dreams have not only the function of reproduction, but also the function of innovation".
When we dream, our thinking patterns have jumped out of the inherent patterns of the day, and at the same time are not affected by the constraints and regulations of the real world, so dreaming is an effective promoter of creative thinking.
5. Rehearse potential threat events in advance
Many people dream of being hunted down or fighting naked enemies when they dream, and these dreams are, in a way, a test of how people react when they are in danger and help them better cope with emergencies when they are awake.
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Frequent dreams, indicating that you did not sleep well?
One trick to help you sleep better
In life, I often hear people complain: "I often dream at night, and the quality of sleep is particularly bad." "But not necessarily.
1 Frequent dreaming does not necessarily mean that you do not sleep well
As mentioned earlier, almost everyone dreams every night, just because the time of waking up is different, so some dreams are remembered and some are not.
And sleep will go through the process of light sleep → deep sleep, about 4~5 such cycles every night, in the process of alternating deep and light sleep, the brain will process dreams and memory screening, resulting in us often only have memories of dreams before waking up, and then often can't remember before.
Therefore, it cannot be said that dreaming means that you have not slept well, and there is no necessary connection between sleep quality and dreaming.
However, if sleep is intermittent due to dreaming, or it is difficult to fall asleep after waking up from a dream, it may affect the quality of sleep.
2 A way to help you improve insomnia and dreaminess
In addition to the causes of physiological diseases, dreams are often the processing and processing of daytime sounds, scenes, emotions, etc. Therefore, if you want to avoid insomnia and dreams, you must adjust your daytime life.
For example: don't watch overly stimulating pictures (such as horror movies, thrillers, etc.), soak your feet before going to bed to relieve fatigue, listen to more music to relax your mood... Sleep in a calmer state.
【Tips】
From the perspective of Chinese medicine, often sleep restlessly, dreamy and easy to wake up, and difficult to fall asleep after waking up, may be a manifestation of weakness of heart and guts, you can try sour jujube kernel tea.
【Recipe】10 grams of longan meat, 10 grams of floating wheat, 10 grams of sour jujube kernels, boiled water or tea substitute.
【Efficacy】Sour jujube kernel enjoys the reputation of "oriental sleeping fruit", can nourish the heart yin, benefit the liver and blood, and treat insomnia and dreams; Longan meat warm tong xin yang; Floating wheat nourishes the mind and calms the mind. The combination of the three can help relieve symptoms such as sleepless dreams, easy awakening, and irritability.
(I'm a big doctor)