Peter Drucker said that “The best way to predict your future is to create it!”

I say “The best way to predict your future health is to create it!” So learn to Take Control of Your Health!

What Killed Ranjan Das, CEO of SAP India?

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.

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.

What is the Cause of Ranjan’s Untimely Death?

It was reported that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep.

In an earlier interview on NDTV in the program ‘Boss’ Day Out’, Ranjan admitted 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).

Lack of sleep will certainly lead to more stresses and other diseases and thereby putting stress on our bodies and hearts!

Here’s some findings:

· Short sleep duration ( <5 or 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 1999.

· Complete 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 sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

· Just one night of sleep 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 and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep

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

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

Finally, if you are a long-distance runner, like Ranjan was, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know whether you are getting adequate sleep, you can try the Epworth Sleepiness Test at http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/epworth.html

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. :-0

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours.

If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

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

Do you have enough hours of sleep each day?

Sleep is as important to the human body as food and water, but most of us don’t get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep or disruptions to the sleep¬wake cycle (such as those that occur with shift work or travelling to a different time zone) cause the physiological state known as fatigue.

A fatigued person is accident prone, judgement impaired and more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions. Staying awake for 24 hours leads to a reduced hand-to-eye coordination that is similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1. This is why sleep deprivation contributes to road accidents and work injuries.

How much sleep is enough?

Sleep requirements differ from one person to the next depending on age, physical activity levels, general health and other individual factors. In general:

• Primary school children – need about nine to 10 hours. Studies show that increasing your child’s sleep by as little as half an hour can dramatically improve school performance.
• Teenagers – need about nine to 10 hours too. Teenagers have an increased sleep requirement at the time when social engagements and peer pressure cause a reduction in sleep time. Lifestyle factors such as early school start times deprive them of the required sleep-in. There is evidence that around the time of becoming a teenager, there is a shift in the sleep – wake cycle to being sleepy later in the evening with a preference for waking later.
• Adults – need about seven to eight hours, depending on individual factors. We tend to need less sleep as we age, but be guided by your own state of alertness – if you feel tired during the day, aim to get more sleep.

Comments:

This is one cheap and easy way to keep fit. Highly recommended. Check out the following report to find out more.

SINGAPORE: It is the reason behind Fann Wong’s svelte figure, and her long-time boyfriend-turned-husband Christopher Lee’s fabulously taut body.

As fans of the sport and fitness experts can attest to, jumping rope – a popular childhood sport which you might have once engaged in – is one of the best and cheapest forms of exercise.

“Rope skipping is an excellent cardio exercise which is far less hard on the muscles and bones than jogging, according to the United States Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council,” said Mr Lim Hun Teck, a senior physiotherapist at Raffles Hospital.

Not only does it improve your heart rate and blood pressure, it also beefs up bone density, strength as well as endurance, Mr Lim added.

It is also one of the greatest calorie-burners. “From an energy standpoint, rope skipping helps in burning about 70 to 110 calories for an exercise session of 10 minutes,” he said.

In fact, just 10 minutes of rope skipping is equivalent to that torturous 1.5km run, said Mr Hansen Bay, the programme director of Vitage Fitness and founder of Rope Sports Singapore.

Mr Bay founded the SkipFit System – a synchronised skipping programme which has been used in various schools here – with his coaches Alex Goh and Fifi Hana.

He said the childhood rope sport seems to be gaining popularity among Singaporeans. Since its launch in 2007, over 10,000 students and adults have participated in the skipping programme.

While the sport may look easy, getting started can be humbling and even frustrating.

“Many of us remember our first experience with rope skipping in school where we were simply given a rope – often a lousy one – and told to jump with no further guidance.

“As the exercise requires a good dose of arm-leg coordination, beginners may become frustrated when they continuously get entangled in the rope,” said Mr Bay.

From his coaching experience, Mr Bay said skipping novices may even become afraid of rope skipping when they accidentally “whip” themselves with the rope.

“Beginners also tend to develop bad habits such as jumping too high and landing incorrectly, thus resulting in injuries,” he added.

That’s why it is important to “start slowly”, advised Mr Lim.

“Try skipping for 20 to 30 seconds, then march on the spot for 30 minutes. Repeat the sequence. As your fitness improves, you can increase the time you skip.”

Going slow, and proper warm-ups and cool down stretches, would also allow one’s leg muscles to get accustomed to the new exercise, he added.

If you have joint problems or if you’re exercising for the first time, Mr Lim said it might be worth checking with the doctor prior to starting a new exercise regimen.

If you haven’t skipped since, say, primary school, consider these expert tips:

1. You need a lightweight rope with a cord that straightens easily, some fitness attire and a pair of well-cushioned shoes.

2. Founder of Rope Sports Singapore, Hansen Bay, recommended doing rope turns – simply swinging the rope while you bounce to the beat of music – prior to doing actual skipping. “You are more likely to experience success when you eventually jump into the rope. In addition, learning to skip to the tempo of popular songs is also fun and engaging,” he said.

3. While skipping, keep your elbows tucked into your sides while the rope turns around smoothly. Also keep your back straight and avoid leaning forward, said Raffles Hospital’s senior physiotherapist Lim Hun Teck.

Enjoy this rendition of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Katharine McPhee and Andrea Bocelli!

How can we emulate “Johnny the Bagger” and create raving fans?

Hope this article will inspire you as it had inspired us here at AskDrRichardWilliams.com…

Barbara Glanz is a speaker and author.

A few years ago, she spoke at a convention for a large grocery chain with over 3,000 people attending. Her talk was on creating memories for the customers so they would want to come back. At the end of her speech, she gave out her email address and phone number, and said, “If you have any great service stories, I’d like to hear them.” Well, about a month later, Barbara gets a call from a young man who introduces himself as Johnny.

He said, “Barbara, I heard what you had to say about service, and I like it! I’m just a bagger in the store and I have Downs syndrome, but I wanted to think of a way I could make a difference.

I decided that I like sayings, so each day I’m going to pick out one that I like, and my dad and I will print it out on the computer. I’ll cut out the quote in strips and sign my name on the back of each one. The next day when customers come through, I’ll just drop a strip right in their bags and say, ‘I hope you enjoy my quote of the day.’ What do you think, Barbara?”

Barbara said, “Johnny, I think that’s a wonderful idea!”

A few weeks later, Barbara gets another call…this time from the store manager. He says,

“Barbara, you won’t believe what’s happened at our store. I went out into the store and noticed that one line was three times longer than the others. I went to the back of the line and suggested that customers move to another checkout, and they wouldn’t budge—they wanted to see Johnny’s quote of the day!

In fact, one lady said, ‘I used to come here once a week, but now I come 2-3 times just to see the smile on Johnny’s face when he drops in his favorite quote.’

So the next day, I round up my team and tell them what Johnny has done to give our customers more than they expected. That afternoon, I see the lady in the floral department cutting off her broken flowers and pinning them on the elderly women in our store. Our guy in the meat department loves Snoopy, so he was putting his favorite Snoopy stickers on the packages, and talking to his customers.

In fact, everybody in our store is finding creative ways to put their mark on service. We’re having the time of our lives, and it seems like everyone in town is talking about us! And you know what, Barbara? It happened for one reason…Johnny decided to do something!”

When it comes to service, we all have our unique gifts to give; however we’ll never make the emotional connection with the customer unless it begins in our heart.

[An except from the book The Simple Truths of Service - Inspired by Johnny the Bagger by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz.

Image courtesy of Barbara Glanz]