Sleep vs. Coma
Written by Ayebamiebi Yousuo
Do you ever wonder what happens when you sleep? Or what exactly is sleep? Or what makes sleep different from Coma? Or Is coma not just a deeper level of sleep?
These questions about sleep are valid, but what exactly is sleep and what makes it different from coma?
Sleep is a state of reduced mental activity accompanied by an increased threshold to stimuli resulting in a state of reduced responsiveness to our environment. That is to say, during sleep, the individual can still sense stimuli like light, pain, pressure, and touch but to a lesser extent depending on the depth of sleep as compared to a state of wakefulness.
Stages of Sleep
We have 2 broad stages:
REM( Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep: this stage is characterized by rapid eye movement and atonia. It is known that most dreams occur during this stage of sleep.
NREM(Non-Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep: this stage is characterized by slowing brain waves, heartbeat, and muscle activity. It comprises steps 1 to 4, each step representing different depths of sleep.
The sleep cycle, an example of an ultradian rhythm typically takes about 4-6 alternations between NREM and REM sleep for a healthy 8 hours sleep.
Sleep vs. Coma
Knowing what sleep is, coma is just a state of unconsciousness where one is unable to respond to external stimuli and therefore unable to gain consciousness by eliciting any of those stimuli.
Having said this one can draw out a few differences between sleep coma:
Sleep is physiological and coma is pathological.
There is some level of consciousness and response to stimuli in sleep while in a coma there is unconsciousness and no response to stimuli.
In sleep, there is alternating between NREM and REM, and there is nothing of such in a coma.
Sleep and coma are two different mental states and should not be misunderstood as similar.
Written by Ayebamiebi Yousuo from MEDILOQUY