Disrupted Circadian Rhythms

Despite the fact that deprivation of sleep has negative impacts, individuals still continue to deprive themselves of sleep. Many claim that they can just make it up tomorrow night and sleep the extra two hours they did not get. However, this is only adding more and more to a sleep debt. This debt will continue to grow and grow until it is paid off. William Dement and Christopher Vaughan strongly advocate that people should know the warnings, importance, and consequences that come with sleep deprivation, and therefore, lead to sleep

Success in life is typically measured by the result of what is accomplished during the waking hours. The degree of effectiveness of those hours however, depend on effective rest. “Sleep is integral to the health and well-being of all people” (Wells 233). Sleep is simply defined as the body’s rest cycle – a time to recharge. The widely accepted metric for normal or sufficient sleep is about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. When this metric is not met, either through total sleep loss or accumulated sleep debt, the effect can be dire, “Sleep deprivation results in poor memorizing, schematic thinking, which yields wrong decisions, and emotional disturbances such as deteriorated interpersonal responses and increased aggressiveness” (Orzeł-Gryglewska 95). Sleep deprivation hinders the abilities of the mind, harms the body, and shortens length of life.

People he who has circadian rhythm sleep disorders is unable to fall asleep and cannot keep awake at the times required for normal work, school, and social needs. The key feature of circadian rhythm disorders is a continuous or occasional disruption of sleep patterns.

Sleep is a beautiful thing, but people do not get enough of it. It is a time for the body to rejuvenate and process the events of the day. Sleeping is something that we seek out. Getting the recommended amount of sleep allows our body to function properly the next day. Without it, there could be detrimental consequences. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that without sleep, neurons could be “polluted with byproducts”. In severe cases, people who get very little sleep often experience mood swings, hallucinations and cells do not continue to reproduce.

In the article from LA Times “Sleep Deprivation Has Genetic Consequences, Study Finds,” Eryn Brown claims that being sleep deprived can be hazardous to our health. Brown addresses that people who don’t get a consistent eight hours of sleep, are most likely to be obese and suffer cardiovascular woes. He supports his claim by subjecting some volunteers to help prove his argument, analyzing blood from the volunteers, and looking at changes in the RNA. Brown writes it in a serious tone to make his us more aware of the effects of sleep deprivation. This is evident in paragraph twelve where it says, “ They found that losing sleep changed rhythmic patterns in the way genes turn on and off…”, and in paragraph six where it states some of the health risks. In order to have us understand the importance of sleep deprivation, Brown demonstrates what happens when we are sleep deprived by having volunteers get only six hours of sleep. He also demonstrates what happens when we aren’t sleep deprived by having volunteers get ten hours of sleep. For example, the RNA tests showed that when we are sleep deprived, our genes involved inflammation, immunity and protein damage, and tissue harm was occurring. Brown is effective on bringing his point across because he provided a lot of evidence to make his claim more impactful on his readers.

Do not take this study lightly. Sleep is a biological need, it is vital to the human body. Deprivation will not kill anyone directly. However, it will cause personality shifts (irritations, mood swings, microsleeps), hallucinations, and paranoia. Microsleep is temporary sleep that lasts anywhere from 1 second to 30 seconds. An individual becomes unconscious for that time period and fails to process sensory input. Loss of sleep also affects concentration, memory, hunger, weight, and the immune system, all negatively. Studies show that driver fatigue is the cause of 20% of US car accidents. When the clocks ‘spring forward’ in the Spring, more accidents

For humans, sleep patterns are regulated by human circadian clocks on a 24-hour time schedule. This regulator is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the human brain. Our human circadian clock notifies us that we should be sleepy at night and awake and alert during the day. It is when this clock doesn't function well we must add supplements such as Melatonin (Golombek DA). The human body is naturally programmed to sleep at a certain time and wake up at a certain time. Several people have trouble sleeping at night due to various problems. These problems range "from sleeping illnesses including but not limited to insomnia, stress and sleep deprivation due to studying, partying and caffeine. Human bodies are designed in such a way that we release Melatonin naturally in certain amounts varying upon the time of day. It has been seen that recently more and more individuals are suffering from not being able to sleep properly at night due to their circadian clocks failing to regulate their sleep-wake patterns.

It is basic knowledge that humans need sleep, but that’s where it ends just general knowledge. The article “Sleep On It” discusses how not getting enough sleeps affects you and also remedies to help. I personally am one of those people who sleeps less and says, “I’ll just be tired tomorrow, it’s okay.” After reading this article I now realize how I am putting my body in danger of future risk and it’s not okay. The article discusses that people who get no more than six hours of sleep are at a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, and gaining more weight. Although the studies mentioned do not show causations, I feel like the correlations are strong enough to understand the negative effects. I found it very interesting no matter which study

Sleep effects every living organism on the world, whether it is positive or negative it has an impact on everyone. There are many different stages of sleep and each containing its own purpose. Sleep isn’t as simple and unnecessary as many believe it to be; sleep has the power to cause many different disorders and can even cause death if a person is deprived from sleep for too long. Sleep can also effect the brain and how the brain functions on a daily basis. Sleep is an important factor of life that should not be over looked. If enough sleep occurs there are many advantages that can make one’s life more healthy and beneficial.

Sleep is undeniably a necessity for humans and other animals alike. At the beginning of each day, our bodies awake like clockwork in conjunction with the rising sun. Then, at day’s end, they begin to wind down into sleep until the morning. While there certainly may be plenty of mysteries revolving sleep that have yet to been unraveled, from all the way up until now and for centuries to come, it is evident that sleep should hold priority in the schedules of all people. Yet, despite all of this being true, sleep is consistently being taken for granted. And, it is not an overgeneralization to say that many people have, at least once, trudged through a late night as many people have. Even to the point of the night no longer being considered “a

Pregnancy is suppose to be the happiest moment of the women’s lives; however, sometimes it does not happen that way. Unfortunately, during this time future moms live, in fact, a sentimental roller coaster during pregnancy. This instability occurs due to the sudden alteration of the hormonal levels that prepare the woman's body to receive the unborn baby. As a result, some women may struggle with the pregnancy symptoms such as confusion, fear, and depression. According to the Journal of Women’s Health, researchers propose that circadian rhythm dysregulation plays a role in mood disorders and reproductive hormones may modulate circadian rhythm amplitude and phase. The dramatic fluctuations in reproductive hormones that occur during pregnancy and the transition from pregnancy to postpartum occur together with alterations in diurnal melatonin timing and quantity. They hypothesize that the changes in reproductive hormones occurring during pregnancy may alter circadian rhythms and thereby precipitate depressive symptoms in vulnerable women. Since many women struggle with depression during their pregnancy, experts are always researching to help

A person who is known as a night owl has a circadian phase sleep disorder known as Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome/Disorder (DSPS), this is when the person falls asleep “2-6 hours later relative to desired and socially conventional rise times”. This condition leads to societal and health disadvantages, resulting from inadequate amount of hours spent sleeping. With chronic inadequate sleep, DSPS can lead to weight gain, depression, anxiety disorders, diabetes, heart disease; however given the right environment a person can live with DSPS without ill effects. (3)

In “Sleep Deprived? Bring About a Change this Sleep day ” (De-stress), “children in New

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder is caused by inappropriate exposure to light which may include sleep problems, fatigue, forgetfulness, performance problems and gastrointestinal problems. The long-term effects of these problems might be increased cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and some types of cancer.

When our clock is out of sync, it is called internal desynchronization, which is a state when biological rhythms are not in phase with one another. This tends to happen when there are changes in one’s normal routines. For example, it can happen due to flights across the zones or new work shifts. When our biological clock is disrupted it gets out of whack, and the immediate repercussions would be that our sleeping, waking, and digestive system would be thrown off. It can also lead to longer-term effects such as, increased