In today’s world, we are surrounded by innovative technology that helps us speed up our day to day lives. We can now communicate, learn, and process information faster than ever. As people’s daily tasks become faster, it seems less time is focused on other important tasks. Many people today are so focused on their busy lives and work schedules, that they are beginning to neglect an important process of the body known as sleep. Sleep is not only a vital process but it also helps the body restore from injury or illness, process information and memories, and renew cognitive brain function. Sleep also helps to boost the immune system, and supply energy so someone can function throughout their day. A healthy sleep schedule is so essential to someone’s …show more content…
Sleep has played an important role people’s cultures for many years. It has been the center of many cultural stories, and it was even believed that sleep slowed down our bodies natural processes. Throughout time, many cultures have tried to give reasoning behind how people fall asleep. The Greeks believed that blood filling the vessels is what caused the brain to sleep, and in the middle ages they thought it was the effect of “animal humors.” Whatever the reason for how we fall asleep, many cultures have tried to delve deeper into the mysteries of sleep. Today, researchers believe that sleep is not caused from inactivity in the brain, but rather sleep itself is an active process. This means that the process of sleep stems from activity within the brain, resulting in the different cycles of sleep or the REM cycles. The different cycles determine how deep a person’s sleep is, and its effectiveness. Most of the information regarding sleep cycles was not made apparent until the 1960s. It seems that science has only began to learn about sleep and its functionality within the brain and people’s lives. (sleep and dreaming pg 15). Morever, Sleep can be a difficult thing to determine in an individual. A person could have their eyes closed and body still, but may not be sleeping. That is why researchers use a polysomnography to study the different stages of sleep. A polysomnography records a person’s brain waves, eye movements, and neck muscle tension. The recordings of the brain, eye movement, and neck muscle tension, are all contributing factors in the process of sleep. By measuring each, researchers are able to better measure the effects of sleep on the body and the brain. It’s through these recordings that brain wave characteristics of sleep begin appear, and the process of nautral sleep occurs. A researcher may also take recordings from other organs such as these
However, not everyone gets the 7-9 hours of sleep they need on a regular basis. In a study done by the National Institute of Health, one-third of Americans get less than 7 hours of sleep and more than 70% of high school students are not getting enough sleep on a school night (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2012). Sleep deprivation is slowly becoming a global issue that the general population, especially students, are not very concerned about. This lack of concern is worrisome because sleep deprivation can have negative effects on a person’s lifestyle, especially on their physical health and their performance in
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).
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
Sleep deprivation is increasingly recognized as a worldwide public health concern as researchers found that lack of sleep impairs human functioning[2]. The majority of individuals was found to be sleep deprived as they are forced to restrain their sleeping hours to compensate increasing working hours, especially individuals whose professions’ is in line with healthcare, security and transportation sectors as they are often required to be on duty even at night [1]. Regardless of whether the individual was totally or partially sleep deprived, it was proven that both had adverse effects on the human body[3]. Further studies revealed that sleep deprivation affected ones’ cognitive and motor performance as well as mood[2].
Sleep is a behavior universal to all people, yet it remains largely a mystery. Chronic sleep deprivation has become rampant throughout western society, for a number of reasons. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of sleep deprivation, with major objectives being to identify what sleep is, and the reasons for sleep. An emphasis is also placed on the effect, symptoms, causes and ways to combat sleep deprivation. These areas are of particular interest to those seeking to investigate sleep deprivation, or individuals who suffer from sleep deprivation by investigating the symptoms, causes and strategies to combat sleep deprivation.
The public health problem that I am addressing is the lack of sleep. The target population will be adolescents and college students in America. Sleep is important to health because the timing, quality, and duration are essential. Sleep plays a big role in good health and well-being throughout your life. How you feel when you are awake comes from how well you slept at night. Sleep has a direct correlation with metabolic regulation, emotional regulation, performance, memory consolidation, learning, and brain recuperation process. Because of these factors it should be viewed as just as important
Sleep deprivation has become a major problem with Americans. Over 100 million Americans today suffer from lack of sleep. This has been an ongoing problem throughout the centuries. People owe their bodies sleep and scientist are calling it a “Sleep debt”. An average American owes their body at least thirty hours of sleep. This lack of sleep is as hazardous as drunk driving.
Sleep is a vital component in human life. It plays a key role in maintaining adequate physical and mental health as well as improving quality of life. Growth and development is also greatly boosted during sleep in children and adolescents as more growth hormones peak production occurs while sleeping (NIH,2017). Adequate sleep makes the body get sufficient rest and readjust in readiness for the activities of the following day.
Many college students suffer from sleep deprivation; only a few students would say that they are getting enough rest at night. Sleep deprivation is caused by not receiving the amount of sleep that the human body needs to function properly throughout the day. Sleep deprivation has many causes and effects that most often lead to depression, physical illness, learning problems, and irregular sleep patterns; Elizabeth Austin offers two solutions to help college students cope with sleep deprivation.
Contrary to what most people assume, the negative effects of sleep deprivation accumulate when the number of lacking hours of sleep of an individual is not consistent on a day-to-day basis. In fact, researchers claim that the majority of people need seven to eight hours of sleep to function in their optimal level (Brody, n.d.). By optimal, it is assumed that these individuals are able to get the most out of the “daily grind” and are able to maximize their potential through their daily activities. Getting the right amount of sleep is just as important as, say, eating the right balance of food. People are able to function, but not in a maximized manner, when the right amount of sleep is not ingested.
Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the functions of many other body systems. Sleep-related issues are common in today’s society, especially in high school and college students’ populations. “In recent surveys, nearly 75% of university students reported occasional sleep problems such as difficulty in falling asleep, sleep disturbances, delayed sleep phase syndrome and excessive daytime sleepiness” (Altun, Insaf, et al.). These sleep
Many phases and function of sleep are still under intense research, however judging from a simple fact - all animals do sleep, it is obvious that its role is indubitable. Nonetheless, many people are still having the mind set of sleep is merely a time-wasting-activity. Even among professionals who perform crucial roles such as doctors, teachers, engineers are willing to compromise their sleep, with a simple excuse, busy. In short, they are experiencing either acute total sleep deprivation or more common, chronic partial sleep restriction[2]. Many effects of both types of sleep deprivation were investigated, in particular health, attention, decision making.
People often do not know how crucial sleep is to the body or how much they should be sleeping. This can lead someone to forego sleeping the adequate amount of hours a night. A sleep deprived individual may unknowingly attribute short term and long term effects of sleep loss to something other than sleep loss. These effects of sleep loss can show up in many aspects of someone’s life. One’s wellbeing and success in academics can be adversely impact loss of sleep. Sleeping a minimum number of hours a night is necessary to maintain academic performance, mental health, and physical health.
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).
Preliminary Thesis Statement: Sleep deprivation has detrimental effects on the health and academic performance of students.