A friend forward me this email. I thought I have to share this to everybody out there.
Just wanted to share with you in case you have not seen this article. Take care of your health..
What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate 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. 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.
Was it the stress?
A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. 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 I doubted if the cause was stress.
The Real Reason
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).
The Evidence
Last week, I was interacting with a well-known cardiologist on a talk about ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.
Some Excerpts:
· 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
For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, 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, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.
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. In my opinion, that killed him.
If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.
I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.
Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to as many of your colleagues as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.
ps : Incidentally, just as human beings need 7 hours of sleep, you should know that cats need 15 hours of sleep and horses need 3 hours of it. So are you planning to be a cool cat or a dumb horse?
The Mayonnaise JarWhen things in your life seem , almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students, if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.
‘Now,’ said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions – Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else –The small stuff.
‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ He continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you.
So…
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
‘Take care of the golf balls first — The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. ‘I’m glad you asked’.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.’
Please share this with other “Golf Balls” I just did…….
The Senai-Pasir Gudang-Desaru Expressway (E22) is expected to be ready for partial opening at any time from now.
We are waiting for the Minister to announce for the opening of the Phase 1 stretch.
The E22 Phase 1 will be the route from the Senai air hub to the Pasir Gudang interchange (Tanjung Langsat).
Meanwhile, the E22 Phase 2, from Cahaya Baru to Desaru, is expected to be opened in early 2010.
Attached, kindly find our map which shows all the interchange to ease your journey. This map shows the entry and exit route of each interchanges.
There will be a free trial run for the public once open to get the public to familiarize E22.
Here is some extra information regarding the distances and time of travel using the E22:
Senai to Ulu Tiram Interchange = 23km (approximately 13 minutes journey at 110km/hr speed)
Ulu Tiram to Cahaya Baru Interchange = 20km (approximately 10 minutes journey at 110km/hr speed)
Cahaya Baru to Pasir Gudang Interchange = 7km (approximately 4 minutes journey at 110km/hr speed)
Cahaya Baru to Penawar (Desaru) Interchange = 27km (approximately 18 minutes journey at 90km/hr speed)
Therefore,
Senai to Cahaya Baru may takes you approximately 23 minutes at 110km/hr speed
Senai to Pasir Gudang may takes you approximately 27 minutes at 110km/hr speed
Senai to Penawar (Desaru) may takes you approximately 41 minutes at 90-110km/hr speed
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of Japan ‘ s biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty.
Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manning by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, did not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead came out with another solution.
He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Moral of the story: always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem..
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn ‘ t work at zero gravity (Ink won ‘ t flow down to the writing surface).In order to solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million.. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C. And what did Russians do………………..??
The Russians used a Pencil !!!
So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems
“Ifyou look at what you do not have in life, you don’ t have anything”
It’s been a while that I haven’t been to the uncle behind my office to buy my favorite ”rojak buah”. Today, my lunch is just the RM3.50 rojak buah. I feel like I want to go green today
Today I feel like I’m taken back to the Wild West era. After watching the Ghost Rider on HBO last night, I immediately starts to look for the soundtrack.
I know that song was originally played by The Ventures but I don’t remember the title. So, today, I finally found the song and it’s here. The Ghost Riders In The Sky by The Ventures.
Most of you might be surprised when I said that. But this is my favorite stretch on the East Coast coastal road. the stretch between Nenasi and Pekan, in the district of Pekan, Pahang.
Why I love it? Because of the road condition. The curves are designed for a high speed cornering. No need to do a ‘drifting’. Just normal high speed corner. Because the corners are designed with the correct slope and angle.
Today is the 14th day of Shawal. I’m already not feeling well. Maybe too tired with all of the open house invitation and trying to catch up with the deadline.
DEADLINE or DATELINE? Either one is surely killing me…
