Sleep is a vital part of life. The many different functions of the body depend on sleep to reenergize and grow. Various types of sleep disorders and parasomnias can interfere with sleep, leaving one feeling sluggish and slow. Many people live with sleep disorders that are untreated or not diagnosed, while others suffer with these disorders, and are unable to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep disorders affect many people and they can be easily treated. Other types of sleep disorders can be grown out of, or lived with without effecting one’s life. However, it is important to treat severe disorders to prevent oneself from getting a lack of sleep.
The brain and body functions in a different manner during sleep then during the waking hours. During sleep, energy is replenished and energy saving organs repair themselves in the body. The brain moves new information to a more permanent memory, and the cerebral cortex shuts down during slow wave sleep(Brynie, 16). The frontal lobe is a part of the cerebral cortex and it is the brain’s most active region during waking hours. It also is the part of the brain that is is for reasoning and decision making. A night without sleep will impair performance of comprehension, concentration, creativity and problem solving. Sleep is extremely important for the body, and without it the body is unable to function properly. The body and brains roles during sleep are vital to repairing and restoring energy, creating memories, and reenergizing itself to function properly for another day’s work.
Sleep is especially important for fighting illnesses, and for children to grow and develop. From the ages five to seven years, children develop REM and non REM patters as adults. This is because they start school...
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...er. Narcolepsy is characterized by sudden unpredictable onsets of sleep. It begins with brief periods of deep sleep, going directly into REM sleep and skipping stages one though four. A person with narcolepsy will have vivid hallucinations and temporary paralysis just before falling asleep and waking. They may also feel strong emotions. Narcolepsy cannot be cured, but there are stimulant drugs to promote wakefulness. Naps can help alleviate fatigue, and certain medications can suppress REM sleep.
REM sleep disorders such as sleep behavior disorder (RBD), may also need to be treated with medications. RBD is when a persona acts out their dreams due to the normal paralysis of REM sleep does not occur. One will lose muscle control and will hit, run, jump and kick. Treatment for RBD include anticonvulsant drugs which will relieve the symptoms of RBD if they are severe.
Researchers have found a way to connect sleep with education. Gary Scarpello who wrote "Lack Of Sleep Could Be Trouble For CTE Students” , did a research study with liberty mutual showed that teens had an average of 7.2 hours of sleep on school nights and 33 to 75 % of all students have sleep problems. In the article it had stated that not getting enough sleep can cause impaired hand eyed coordination, reaction time and brief mental lapses. (Scarpello). The same researchers also found out that Sleep helps restores brain functions such as alertness, metabolism, and memory and regulate hormones (Scarpello). Researchers Mary A. Carskardon and A.R. Wolfson studied 3,120 Rhode Island children. They had figured out that college students who slept more than nine hours a night had a gr...
Insomnia, from the Latin "in" (not) and "somnus" (sleep), is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep, and/or staying asleep. Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning feeling unrested and experiencing drowsiness during the day. It is not identified as a disease or diagnosis, but a symptom that causes a person to feel irritable, sleepy, and have ...
Chronic sleep loss is becoming more common in modern culture and less restricted to sleep-deprived diseases such as insomnia. Suggested to be the result of a number car, industrial, medical, and other occupational accidents, sleep deprivation is beginning to be recognized as a public concern. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control
When most people think of sleep, they think of it as a relaxed but yet not a very important part of our daily lives. What most people don’t understand is although we are not up and moving around and getting tasks completed, our brains are still very active. Without sleep our bodies do not function correctly on a daily basis, and our mental state is at risk.
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).
The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep suggested that sleep was not, as it was thought to be, a dormant state but rather a mentally dynamic one. Your brain is, in fact, very active in this state, almost to the level at which it is when a person is awake. Yet during this active stage in which most dreams occur, the movements of the rest of the body are completely stilled. To imagine this paralysis during dreams not occurring is a frightful image, since in many cases dreams are violent and active. When the neurotransmitters that control the movement of the body do not work properly the person develops REM sleep behavioral disorder (RBD).
Narcolepsy has been clinically defined as a chronic neurological disorder that involves the body's central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is basically like a "highway" of nerves that carries messages from the brain to other parts of the body. Thus, for people with narcolepsy, the messages about when to sleep and when to be awake sometimes hit roadblocks or detours and arrive in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why someone who has narcolepsy, not managed by medications, may fall asleep while eating dinner or engaged in social activities-or even at times when they are so focused on being awake, yet they cannot be due to their narcoleptic nature.
Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the ideas that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleeping, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during consciousness. If all of these important activities occur during sleep, why is it that people are so willing to short themselves of this vital activity? Although much about sleep still remains a mystery, research and experiments continue to show how important sleep is to each and every person. Throughout this paper, I will discuss sleep and the effects that it has on performance and health, especially in college students. A college student’s sleeping pattern is a reliable indicator to their level of performance in the classroom and other school-affiliated activities, as a lack of sleep leads to decreased performance. Sleep is directly related the level of performance and health in an individual; the more rested a person is, the better that person will perform and feel (Dryer, 2006).
Parasomnia refers to a wide variety of disruptive, sleep-related events or, "disorders of arousal." These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and most are often infrequent and mild. They may however happen often enough to become so bothersome that medical attention should be sought out. "Parasomnias are disorders characterized by abnormal behavior or physiological events occurring in association with sleep stages, or sleep-wake transitions."(DSM pg. 435)
Much of society mistakenly believes that each individual needs eight hours of sleep in order to have a full night’s rest. This is untrue because the amount of sleep you need has a large dependence on the many factors that influence healthy energy. Age is a large indicator of how much sleep is relevant to an individual. Studies done by Milner (2008), “Benefits of napping and an extended duration of recovery sleep on alertness and immune cells after acute sleep restriction” show that an adult needs nine hours a day in order to carry out work productively, feel rejuvenated, and maintain contented moods. In contrast, infants tend to need more time to rest their bodies even though they are less active. A young baby spends 2/3rds of their day
The phenomenon of sleep paralysis can be a frightening experience: many who suffer can feel tremendous anxiety and fear, even though occurrences are considered as harmless as a bad dream. The disorder does not discriminate on the basis of race or gender, but age sometimes is a factor. Treatment for sleep paralysis is limited; in general, doctors treat the disorders linked to sleep paralysis such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis continues to be one of the many mysteries of the human brain, which science will continue to investigate.
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.
Sleep is a very important factor in the human function. Our body and brain is able to reset itself and rejuvenate while we sleep. When we do not get the required amount of sleep, we start to feel lethargic and foggy minded, because our mind and body wasn’t able to replenish itself. Sleep is imperative that an insignificant rest deficiency or lack of sleep can affect our ability to remember things; decisions and can affect our temperament. Chronic sleep deficiency can get the body to feel agitated and it could lead to serious health problems such as, heart problems, stress, acne, and obesity.
Sleep plays a vital role in a person’s mental well-being. Sleeping affects how well people think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. While a person is sleeping, his brain is preparing to help him learn and remember information. A good night’s sleep enhances learning and problem solving skills. It is very important for the students to have sound sleep as it can improve their concentration, memory and creativity. Furthermore, having enough sleep increases the ability to m...
People do not take sleep as important as they should and do not get enough sleep that their body requires to function properly. Sleep is very important for a person 's physical health, well being and healthy brain functions. Without enough sleep our bodies can not perform daily function to our full ability. For many people, sometimes there is just not enough time in one day to complete all their tasks, fulfil all responsibilities and get the minimum sleep their body requires. Why do people not get enough sleep? Being a parent, student or just an adult in the working world comes with many responsibilities. People do not get enough sleep for reasons such as stress, discomfort, or medical conditions.