Importance of Sleep

885 Words2 Pages

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, nine hours of sleep was the norm, but no more. Technology and long work hours often prevent sleeping nine to ten hours each night; however, eight hours would vastly improve psychological and physical health and well-being. Chronic sleep deprivation is less than five hours nightly.

Getting the proper rest is important to stay alert during the day; Studies prove that eight or more hours of restful slumber every night enhances mood, brain function, and increases joy. In addition, the time that one gets to bed is just as important as the several hours that one actually sleep hours. Some experts even believe that the best time to asleep is between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.. This is when repair, renewal, and re-energizing of the mind and body takes place.

The mind repairs itself through resting, dreaming, and decreased brain activity. The mind ceases attending to wakeful activities and switches over to restfulness and then dreaming. Once dreaming begins, a problem, whether big or small, can be symbolically solved, which is healing. Other reasons to get to bed early are to increase the likelihood of optimal physical health. Hormones, metabolism, blood sugar, body size, and heart rate, etc., are all negatively affected by continuous sleep loss and/or deprivation.

The repair work begins at about 2:00 a.m. and the body must be ready to receive these benefits through deep sleep. Think of it like this; before the body can repair you must be in bed for a good while. If one gets to bed at 1:00 a.m., and the repair begins at 2:00 a.m. the body isn’t ready, i.e., the required rest period hasn’t occurred and the renewal process is missed, much like not getting the anesthesia (rest) before the operatio...

... middle of paper ...

... take place because of lack of sleep. This effects both the young and the old. Simply put, get enough rest for optimal health and the body will repair itself. Eve Van Cauter, Research Professor in Medicine, believes that lack of sleep also hasten the aging process even causing age related diseases in the young, such as hypertension, and, as stated earlier, diabetes; for instance, glucose is adversely affected when the body doesn't receive the required sleep. This effect on glucose further causes poor carbohydrates assimilation or what's known as glucose intolerance or syndrome X or pre-diabetes; either of these conditions can lead to diabetes. It is easy to lessen the symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation by getting to bed early each night. It is not so effortless to stop working or postponing and/or participating in fun activities, but the rewards are worth it.

Open Document