What’s Up While You’re Sleeping?

​Complex processes contribute to health and well-being

Brien Tonkinson, M.D.

​KEY WEST, Fla – AUGUST 1, 2025 - We’re repeatedly told getting a good night’s sleep is important and Brien Tonkinson, M.D., Keys Medical Group Otolaryngology/ENT wants you to know some of the reasons why. Dr. Tonkinson says your overall health and well-being directly benefit from the complex internal work going on while you sleep. Sleep frees your body and brain to experience important changes and processes that, if not completed, can lead to less effective physical and mental functioning.
 
During sleep, your body’s metabolic rate lowers and conserves energy for repair and restoration. Your heart rate and blood pressure lower to allow the cardiovascular system to rest and recover. The brain experiences an active state of unconsciousness, where neural activity cleans out things the brain doesn’t need, consolidates memories, sends signals for the creation of hormones and strengthens communication between brain cells.
 
Effective sleep takes time, as the repairs and actions vary throughout multiple sleep cycles of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. In a typical sleep period, you will cycle through four or five times. People who get insufficient total sleep may not progress through enough sleep cycles to get the restorative benefits that come from proper rest.
 
“Sleep is a compilation of complex processes vital to our well-being and researchers are still learning how they work,” said Dr. Tonkinson. “While sleep is seemingly passive, your brain and body are engaged in activities that are necessary to live and linked to quality of life, both mentally and physically.”
 
According to the Sleep Foundation, sleep and the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, play an important role in production and regulation of several hormones affecting overall health. As light exposure decreases, your body naturally produces melatonin to help you sleep. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol reach their lowest point a few hours after sleep begins and start climbing as you get closer to waking. Sleep can affect the production of growth hormone that supports bone and muscle development as well as levels of leptin and ghrelin that regulate your appetite.
 
“Creating good sleep habits plays an important part in getting a good night’s sleep,” said Dr. Tonkinson.  “Your body has a whole lot to get done each night in order to help you. When you have a sleepless night or a night where you wake up several times, there’s a decided impact on your functioning the next day.”
 
Beyond the lack of rest, sleep disturbance negatively impacts your hormonal rhythms and metabolism. Obesity, insulin insensitivity, diabetes, hormonal imbalance and appetite dysregulation can all result from insufficient, or poor quality sleep. And your brain’s ability to input and process information learned during the day or remember the following morning is notably less.
 
Dr. Tonkinson has several tips to help you get a better night’s sleep, including lowering the temperature in your bedroom, keeping the room dark and being consistent in your bedtime. Follow a relaxing routine to wind down your mind and body – try meditation, simple stretching, reading or taking a bath. Avoid alcohol or caffeine and try to minimize your intake of liquids two hours before bedtime so you are less likely to need to get up in the middle of the night.
 
If you have an ongoing problem getting a good night’s sleep, or frequently experience insomnia, an otolaryngologist can help determine the cause.

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