Deep restful slumber could set off beginning of puberty

Health and sleep go hand in hand. Harvard scientists claim that a deep sleep could be accountable for the commencement of puberty in children. Researchers state deep sleep or slow-wave sleep , is closely connected with the complex adolescence process and greatly influences the onset of puberty. Lack of a good night’s sleep also results in obesity in children, say the researchers.

The “sleep” study

A team of researchers led by Natalie Shaw, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard University, scrutinized children in the age group of 9-15. The research group recorded pulses of the secretion of the luteinizing hormone (LH) with respect to precise stages of sleep in children approaching adolescence .

The process of ovulation in females, is triggered off due to the Luteinizing hormone. Similarly in males the Luteinizing hormone stimulates the testestrone production.

Deep sleep slumber

There are a large number of changes that crop up in boys and girls during the puberty phase which is activated by alterations taking place in the brain.

Sleep studies done in the past depict that those parts of the brain directly responsible for controlling puberty, initially get into the active mode during sleep. But the major factor connected with the adolescence process is going into deep sleep rather than getting snatches of sleep or having a restless sleep pattern, says the latest study.

Lead Researcher Natalie Shaw from Harvard University along with her colleagues examined pulses of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in relation to specific sleep stages in children, states "If the parts of the brain that activate the reproductive system depend on deep sleep, then we need to be concerned that inadequate or disturbed sleep in children and young adolescents may interfere with normal pubertal maturation."

She further claimed "This is particularly true for children who have been diagnosed with sleep disorders, but may also have more widespread implications as recent studies have found that most adolescents get less sleep than they require," she confirmed in a statement.

Deep sleep, also termed as slow wave sleep, does not have rapid eye movement and is found commonly in the pubescent children. The study points out that this is why the pubescent children go through longer phases of deep sleep as compared to the adults.

Lack of proper sleep has been linked with variation in the maturity and puberty process. Regular bad nights and lack of deep sleep contributes greatly in the adolescents being obese. The Centers for Disease Control recognizes obesity as a major teenage disorder. All factors are evidence to the fact that deep sleep is the main regulator in the commencing of puberty.