Why Is Sleep So Important?

Morgan Manella in the article “Study: A Third of U.S. Adults Don’t Get Enough Sleep” argues that sleep deprivation can have a negative effect in someone’s health. Manella supports her argument by presenting statistics that shows how adults that don’t enough sleep have chronic conditions. The author’s purpose is to raise awareness so that people will sleep more often and have a better health condition.

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.

This article explains the importance of getting the perfect amount of sleep at night. The idea that sleeping for less than five hours or more than nine hours proves to have a negative effect on the human body. Sleep deprivation has a closely related link to memory retention and can cause a person to have trouble with daily task. The author continues to explain that not only is the brain effected by too little or too much sleep, but the rest of the body is also effected. Conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and even depression have links to not getting the perfect amount of sleep. The article concludes with listing tips to get the ideal amount of sleep at night, such as, going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day and limiting the amount of caffeine that is consumed throughout the day.

Universal to every human from birth to death, sleep is a necessary function to survival, productivity, and happiness. While most fall asleep at night with ease, it is estimated that 50-70 million Americans battle sleep or wakefulness disorders. Although sleep disorders do not immediately present with a threat comparable to other common disorders such as depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia, sleep disorders prove very disruptive to one’s quality of life. Insufficient sleep may result in difficulty concentrating, difficulty with memory, trouble with personal care such as hygiene, driving, or managing finances, and poor performance in the workplace. While there is a wide array of sleep related illnesses that may plague any given individual,

This essay focuses on evaluating three functions of sleep. These functions include mental health (Jackowska et al, 2011), cardiovascular disease (Kronholm et al, 2011) and memory (Hu et al, 2006). The key aspects are explained in detail with regards to studies. The findings from the studies will help justify the function and it’s involvement with sleep. Sleep is important for an individual’s well being, survival, brain development, emotional regulation, cognitive function, memory, and in order to protect mental and cardiovascular health. An individual should sleep for 6-8 hours. A recent suggestion by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommended that an individual should sleep for minimum 7 hours. The quality of sleep is significant to maintain healthy brain functions. Evidence, indicating that good sleep quality is essential for mood and health then duration (Chandola et al, 2010). The researches implied will enable the understanding of the functions of sleep and evaluate the evidence of each of the functions, including advantages and limitations. Furthermore ethical issues are discussed, and an overall summary of the essay is briefed.

Sufficient sleep is a biological necessity for the normal functioning of humans, it allows the body to rest and to replenish itself so that it is able to serve its function of living. In addition, mental and physical health depend on the amount of sleep we get. Most adults and students value work and college much more than sleep, this is due to the academic, career, and materialistic demands. Researchers have noted a positive correlation between lack of sleep and decreased physical health, mental health, and academic performance. Sleep consists of two cycles: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM), which are sleep patterns that alternate throughout the night. Firstly, sleep begins with non-REM sleep lasting about 90 minutes followed by REM sleep lasting 10-30 minutes, then the cycle repeats itself. REM sleep is the most important phase of sleep because the body is internally awake, with waking-like brain activity, yet asleep and externally calm. Thus, an uninterrupted REM phase of sleep is necessary for integrating previously learned material, and giving the individual a feeling of being well rested and refreshed. Many individuals will put sleep off so that more work hours, and school work can be fit into the day in order to get a better outcome such as job promotions or better academic grades, but I believe that sleep deprived people show a low performance in daily tasks due to suffering from mental, and physical health disorders.

Based on the latest update on the National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendation, seven to nine hours of sleep for young adults and adults represent the standard amount of sleep for healthy individuals.(Hirshkowitz et al., 2015) To be fair however, it comes as no surprise to most people, as it has, for many years, have been sleeping around those hours before. Be that as it may, it helps to bring into light why in recent years, more and more people are getting less sleep than they used to. As observed previously, it should not, and is not challenging to find evidence of people reportedly lacking sufficient sleep. In reference to a poll made by the National Sleep Foundation, approximately 39% of people living in Great Britain, 53% of Americans, and 66% of Japanese all report sleeping fewer than seven hours on an average work night. This is reason for concern evidently as any sleep times far below of the seven to nine hour time range most typically indicate signs or symptoms of more severe physical health problems. In particular, recent studies have been providing evidence that correlates the lack of adequate sleep with increased risk of health problems such as: type 2 diabetes, child- and adulthood obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and a higher risk of mortality to top it

sleep debt. Sleep debt does not let people to get “sufficient sleep on a chronic basis” (Open Stax, 2016).

On average, an adult should receive at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night to function effectively. Sleep deprivation is caused in many different ways. As reported by Gallup Polls, about 14% of Americans receive 5 hours or less of sleep per night. Many of today’s college students suffer from sleep deprivation. The balancing of classes, extracurricular activities, work, and homework take away from the hours needed to receive sufficient rest. This is called voluntary sleep deprivation, which is when one has the ability to decide whether to rest or continue in what they are doing. These decisions cause one to suffer from many different

Sleep is a basic human need, it affects how we function on a daily basis and is essential for a person’s health and well being. Sleeping allows the body to recharge and affords the brain the opportunity to integrate important facts, memories and emotional impressions recorded from the previous day. There are five stages of sleep that people go through: Stages one, two, three, four, and Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Sleep is important for all human beings but the amount of sleep each person needs is dependent on many different factors, for example age. Infants generally need sixteen hours of sleep a day, teenagers need about nine hours, and for most adults, seven to eight hours a night is ideal. If people do not sleep enough for several nights they

Research indicates that America’s sleep problems have increased and might be the number one health problem. The average amount of sleep that people get per night can range anywhere from three to twelve hours. According to Dr. David Dinges at the University of Pennsylvania, it is a fact that people who get fewer than six hours of sleep a night do not live as long as people who get seven hours or more. Most people do not realize the importance of sleep or even realize that it is needed to survive. Many people experience sleep deprivation; however it is commonly seen in college students. Irregular sleeping patterns tend to occur in students, which can later lead to long-term effects.

As an individual sleeps, his body is able to repair itself, remove toxins, and consolidate memories. It is no surprise that the Dalai Lama has once stated that, “Sleep is the best meditation”. Even though the importance of sleep is highly proclaimed, sleep deprivation, especially in young adults, is significantly prevalent. Doctors recommend the sufficient amount time adolescents should spend sleeping every night is eight hours. However, due to a committed schedule, many young adults find themselves in a predicament that powers their improper sleep habits. The contradictory perspective on the value of sleep, assert that the time spent sleeping can be used to performing tasks that are more productive. But a multitude of studies continue to indicate

This is the transitional stage between light and deep sleep and is considered as slow wave sleep (SWS), consisting of delta activity. If woken from this sleep individuals feels confused and dopey for a few minutes, as they are unresponsive to environmental stimuli. Stage 4 or NREM 4 lasts about 30 minutes and is sometimes considered to be deep sleep. According to Carlson (2013) , “The distinction between stage 3 and stage 4 is not clear-cut; stage 3 contains 20–50 percent delta activity, and stage 4 contains more than 50 percent” (p. 291)

It is no surprise that college students aren’t getting enough sleep. We always have something to do. If it isn’t the plethora amount of homework we receive on a weekly basis, then it might be our extracurricular activities keeping us up, and let’s not forget about working! It is known that the average amount sleep a human needs is about 8 hours a day, but as college students, we are lucky to get at least 5! Sleep is important for numerous reasons: It makes us feel rejuvenated, strengths our immune system, puts us in a better mood, and its essential for normal cognitive and motor function. In this observation, I will be discussing the insufficient amount of sleep Rutgers students get while attending school. The lack of sleep is a public health

Sleep is an essential part of any person’s health, however few people seem to realize that not receiving enough sleep can double the risk of becoming obese.“The ‘epidemic’ of obesity is paralleled by a ‘silent epidemic’ of reduced sleep duration with short sleep duration linked to the increased risk of obesity both in adults and in children”(Professor Cappuio). Someone who has developed a sleeping disorder such as, sleep apnea, may not have the motivation to diet or exercise, due to daytime sleepiness. Scientists at the University of Chicago conucted a study in 1999, which restricted eleven healthy young adults to four hours of sleep for six nights. The scientist discovered that restricting individuals to this amount of sleep impaired metabolism functions and disrupted hormone levels. It was also found that the subject’s abilities to process glucose in the blood had declined, in some cases to the level of diabities. ” Not only does obesity contribute to sleep problems such as sleep apnea, but sleep problems can also contribute to obesity.”(National Sleep Foundation)