This mail was originally sent by Microsoft India’s Chairman, Ravi Venkatesan.The subject was Sleep and Heart Attacks. I am posting the parts of email to spread some awareness.

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra’s Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India . However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

The Real Reason

While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So the cause was not stress.

However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program ‘Boss’ Day Out’:

Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

Short nap duration (5-6 hours) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009

As you know, high BP kills. Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006

Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate nap later, the levels stayed high.

Just one night of doze loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis andheart disease. Paper published in 2004

Sleeping forPaper published in 2006

What is Ideal Sleep?

In brief, your nap is composed of two stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of nap is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of nap is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of nap is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of slumber, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM nap). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess (lack of non-REM nap), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down.

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But hemissed getting proper and adequate nap, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance.

If you still visit the Linkedin page of Ranjan Das you can see the Contact Settings Interested In: Getting back in touch.

With daily exercise, sound sleep is also very significant. If you are not getting enough sleep (minimum 7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

Mood: Sad
Please share this post with your near & dear ones. May be we can save even one young life because of this.