Dying To Sleep Research Paper
Dying to Sleep
Sleep. How can one simple action have such a big impact on a person’s live? Sleep is what gives people the power to do their everyday tasks, from walking down the stairs to picking up a fork at dinner. However even though sleep is one of the most important daily actions played out, most people do not think of this as true. Many people do not realize how badly they are damaging their bodies by viewing sleep as a meager aspect of everyday life. “Many people think of sleep simply as a luxury - a little downtime. They know they feel better when they get a good night’s sleep and worse when they don’t. But sleep actually improves …show more content…
learning, memory, and insight” (Peri, Camille. “Coping”). The importance of sleep is a dire subject. Sleep is to the body what water is to a garden; it not only refuels the body physically but also emotionally and mentally.
Physically, the body needs sleep.
Everyone thinks that just a quick nap or lying down for awhile will equal to a good night’s sleep, but they are wrong. Lack of sleep affects people physically in two ways. It can affect them in the short run as well as in the long run.
Yes, everyone needs sleep, but that does not mean everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Most adults need around seven to eight hours of sleep with the exception of a woman going through pregnancy. Pregnant women need more sleep in the first three months of pregnancy than any other time. Babies on the other hand need at least fourteen hours of sleep daily while school-aged children need nine to ten hours. As for teens, they often need eight to nine hours of undisturbed sleep …show more content…
(Leach).
One short-term effect of sleep loss is the aging of skin. Many people may have noticed that they get puffy eyes and dark circles under their eyes, but it goes further than that. Eventually very defined lines and lackluster skin will follow. Cortisol is produced in extremes when one does not get sleep. This stress induced hormone is responsible for breaking down a person’s skin and causing it to lose its elasticity and smoothness. A cycle of sleep, slow wave sleep, is not met when someone does not get his proper sleep, and this causes the production of human growth hormones to decline, and without these our skin, bones, and muscles weaken and do not grow properly (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). Injury at work is another more common occurrence when people do not get a good sleep. The risks of injuring oneself is more than two times higher (Brues). Another short-term issue derived from sleepless nights is killing your sex drive. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and tension can be mostly at blame for this; however, lack of sleep affects the men most when it comes to this effect, for it is proven to lower their testosterone levels (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). Daily pain also stems from poor sleep. A research project was done where several women were awakened by force throughout the night for a couple of nights. The women that were awakened noticed abrupt periods of pain, while the other women left sleeping did not experience these episodes of pain. This is because poor sleep disturbs the body’s natural pain control, and so more chronic pain is witnessed (Leach).
“When it comes to body weight, it may be that if you snooze, you lose” (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). She says this because in a recent study it is proven that a person is thirty percent more likely to be overweight if he or she does not get enough sleep. Ghrelin is one peptide that regulates appetite. Leptin is another. Ghrelin stimulates hunger while leptin suppresses your appetite. Studies show that with less sleep levels of leptin decrease as levels of ghrelin increase, and this shows how it is possible that a person is more likely to be overweight if they do not sleep well (Peri, Camille.“Ten Things”).
A body’s immune system also gets attacked when it does not get enough sleep. A person is more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus when their body is weakened by lack of sleep. This is because while people sleep a protein called cytokine is produced. Not only does cytokine help fight off illnesses, but it also helps promote sleep. Cytokines must increase if people have an infection or inflammation, otherwise it is more likely to escalate into a stronger illness. That is why sleep is necessary to remain healthy, it not only fights off, but also speeds up the recovery of viruses and illnesses (Morgenthaler).
This shows just how risky not getting your sleep is, but there are even more life long effects to watch for. The University of Chicago Medical Center(UCMC) did a study on chemical imbalances caused by sleep deprivation. They kept several healthy young adults from getting their full night’s sleep, which includes a deep restorative part of sleep. After three nights of this the people insinuating the experiment were astounded. Each one of the subjects had an alarmingly lower amount of insulin. It was the same decrease you would expect to see in someone who had gained twenty pounds. This put all the volunteers at a higher risk for type two diabetes (Leach). Other long term illnesses caused by lack of sleep include heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and stroke (Peri,Camille. “Ten Things”). A chance of getting colon cancer and breast cancer is also heightened if a person does not get a full night’s sleep for long periods of time (Stein). However, the most critical attribute of not getting proper sleep is causing early death. It is proven that people tend to die at an earlier age when they have had a life of improper sleep (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”).
Lack of sleep can cause a person to feel and behave different than normal. This is because of the effect that minimal sleep has on a person’s behavior. “People who have problems with sleep are at increased risk for developing emotional disorders, depression, and anxiety.” (Epstein). Those are only a few effects of sleep loss. More so, irritability, anger, stress, and anxiety can all be associated with sleep loss (Epstein). The University of Pennsylvania did a study that proved with only four and a half hours of sleep for one week people had a harder time staying positive. They more often were found to be feeling angry, sad, and mentally exhausted; however, after they went back to their normal sleeping habits their moods returned to normal (Epstein).
Doctors believe there may be another reason mood is affected by sleep. When someone gets sleep he or she have more energy for the day, and so people will exercise more, eat healthier, and do more leisurely activities. All of these things help boost the mood in a positive way. Then, when a person gets less sleep they do less of all those activities causing a decrease in positive mood (Peri, Camille. “Coping”).
However sleep does not just feed mood, but mood also feeds sleep.
Not only does sleep affect mood, but mood and mental states can also affect sleep. Anxiety increases agitation and arousal, which make it hard to sleep. Stress also affects sleep by making the body aroused, awake, and alert. People who are under constant stress or who have abnormally exaggerated responses to stress tend to have sleep problems. (Epstein)
This is especially seen in the relationship between sleep loss and depression. “Sleep deprivation and depression are so closely linked that sleep specialists aren’t always sure which came first in their patients.” (Peri, Camille. “Coping”). In 2005 a poll was taken and it proved that people with depression on average got less than six hours of sleep (Peri, Camille.“Ten Things”). In turn, out of Americans, fifteen to twenty percent of the people with sleep disorders also acquire major depression (Epstein). So it seems, bad sleeping habits stand guilty of impacting your mood and attitude in negative
ways.
Thanks to the brain people are able to go about our everyday lives without a second thought. However, just like the rest of the muscles in the body, the brain needs sleep too. It is just as difficult to function mentally without sleep as it is to function physically. There are several reasons why having a poor night of sleep leaves people feeling foggy the next day. Not getting the right amount of sleep can lower attention level, tamper with memory, mess up judgement, slow down thought processes and decision making, and decrease learning capabilities (L.,S.).
By taking out only an hour and a half of a usual night’s sleep, a person lowers his or her daytime attention and alertness by 32 percent (Brues). When it comes to memory, people can not skim by on only a little bit of sleep. The brain must go through all five cycles, especially the REM cycle which is most important for memory. When people learn something new their brain builds a new passageway with neurons. These neurons can only be completely built with proteins released during the REM cycle (L.,S.). Being unfocused and foggy from sleep loss also makes it harder to attain new information and skills, and if someone can not learn something properly how is the person expected to remember it (Brues).
One of the most important learning skills that require sleep is learning of language. When learning language the most active part of the brain is the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. In a fully rested person magnetic resonance imaging shows that the temporal lobe is very active while learning language based skills. Whereas a person with poor sleep shows almost no activity in this part of the brain as language related skills are attempting to be learned. One effect such as slurred speech has been observed in the people with a poor sleep. The people with better sleep then perform better in verbal language tests than their sleep lacking comrades. A couple possible reasons for these poor results from the subjects with poor sleep could be the fact that they have not regenerated their neurons with sleep, and that their parietal lobe is not accustomed to taking over for the temporal lobe, and thus it takes more time for it to carry these tasks out (L.,S.). With that it is seen just how important sleep is to the body mentally.
Essentially, our body is like a garden. If a garden gets its proper care and watering it will flourish and produce for you what is intended. If the garden does not get the necessary amount of water then slowly section by section the garden will quit producing what is expected of it, and it will dry up and eventually die. Whereas a body, when it gets the right amount of sleep, will function just as it should, but if it gets too little each part will begin to shut down. First ,your body will quit functioning physically, emotionally, and eventually even mentally.
Works Cited
Brues, Michael J. “Sleep Habits: More Important Than You Think.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 15 March 2006. Web. 19 November 2012.
Epstein, Lawrence J. “Sleep and Mood.” Get Sleep. WGBH Educational Foundation, 15 Dec. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
Leach, Michelle. “How Lack of Sleep Affects Us Physically.” eHow Health. Demand Media, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 November 2012.
L.,S.. “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain and Behavior.” Serendip. Serendip, 3 January 2008. Web. 11 November 2012.
Morgnthaler, Timothy. “Lack of Sleep, Can It Make You Sick.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 August 2012. Web. 12 November 2012.
Peri, Camille. “Coping With Excessive Sleepiness.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 19 January 2010. Web. 15 November 2012.
Peri, Camille. “Ten Things To Hate About Sleep Loss.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 12 September 2012. Web. 18 November 2012.
Stein, Rob. “Scientists Finding Out What Losing Sleep Does to a Body.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 9 October 2005. Web. 18 November 2012.
Sleep. How can one simple action have such a big impact on a person’s live? Sleep is what gives people the power to do their everyday tasks, from walking down the stairs to picking up a fork at dinner. However even though sleep is one of the most important daily actions played out, most people do not think of this as true. Many people do not realize how badly they are damaging their bodies by viewing sleep as a meager aspect of everyday life. “Many people think of sleep simply as a luxury - a little downtime. They know they feel better when they get a good night’s sleep and worse when they don’t. But sleep actually improves …show more content…
learning, memory, and insight” (Peri, Camille. “Coping”). The importance of sleep is a dire subject. Sleep is to the body what water is to a garden; it not only refuels the body physically but also emotionally and mentally.
Physically, the body needs sleep.
Everyone thinks that just a quick nap or lying down for awhile will equal to a good night’s sleep, but they are wrong. Lack of sleep affects people physically in two ways. It can affect them in the short run as well as in the long run.
Yes, everyone needs sleep, but that does not mean everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Most adults need around seven to eight hours of sleep with the exception of a woman going through pregnancy. Pregnant women need more sleep in the first three months of pregnancy than any other time. Babies on the other hand need at least fourteen hours of sleep daily while school-aged children need nine to ten hours. As for teens, they often need eight to nine hours of undisturbed sleep …show more content…
(Leach).
One short-term effect of sleep loss is the aging of skin. Many people may have noticed that they get puffy eyes and dark circles under their eyes, but it goes further than that. Eventually very defined lines and lackluster skin will follow. Cortisol is produced in extremes when one does not get sleep. This stress induced hormone is responsible for breaking down a person’s skin and causing it to lose its elasticity and smoothness. A cycle of sleep, slow wave sleep, is not met when someone does not get his proper sleep, and this causes the production of human growth hormones to decline, and without these our skin, bones, and muscles weaken and do not grow properly (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). Injury at work is another more common occurrence when people do not get a good sleep. The risks of injuring oneself is more than two times higher (Brues). Another short-term issue derived from sleepless nights is killing your sex drive. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and tension can be mostly at blame for this; however, lack of sleep affects the men most when it comes to this effect, for it is proven to lower their testosterone levels (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). Daily pain also stems from poor sleep. A research project was done where several women were awakened by force throughout the night for a couple of nights. The women that were awakened noticed abrupt periods of pain, while the other women left sleeping did not experience these episodes of pain. This is because poor sleep disturbs the body’s natural pain control, and so more chronic pain is witnessed (Leach).
“When it comes to body weight, it may be that if you snooze, you lose” (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”). She says this because in a recent study it is proven that a person is thirty percent more likely to be overweight if he or she does not get enough sleep. Ghrelin is one peptide that regulates appetite. Leptin is another. Ghrelin stimulates hunger while leptin suppresses your appetite. Studies show that with less sleep levels of leptin decrease as levels of ghrelin increase, and this shows how it is possible that a person is more likely to be overweight if they do not sleep well (Peri, Camille.“Ten Things”).
A body’s immune system also gets attacked when it does not get enough sleep. A person is more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus when their body is weakened by lack of sleep. This is because while people sleep a protein called cytokine is produced. Not only does cytokine help fight off illnesses, but it also helps promote sleep. Cytokines must increase if people have an infection or inflammation, otherwise it is more likely to escalate into a stronger illness. That is why sleep is necessary to remain healthy, it not only fights off, but also speeds up the recovery of viruses and illnesses (Morgenthaler).
This shows just how risky not getting your sleep is, but there are even more life long effects to watch for. The University of Chicago Medical Center(UCMC) did a study on chemical imbalances caused by sleep deprivation. They kept several healthy young adults from getting their full night’s sleep, which includes a deep restorative part of sleep. After three nights of this the people insinuating the experiment were astounded. Each one of the subjects had an alarmingly lower amount of insulin. It was the same decrease you would expect to see in someone who had gained twenty pounds. This put all the volunteers at a higher risk for type two diabetes (Leach). Other long term illnesses caused by lack of sleep include heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and stroke (Peri,Camille. “Ten Things”). A chance of getting colon cancer and breast cancer is also heightened if a person does not get a full night’s sleep for long periods of time (Stein). However, the most critical attribute of not getting proper sleep is causing early death. It is proven that people tend to die at an earlier age when they have had a life of improper sleep (Peri, Camille. “Ten Things”).
Lack of sleep can cause a person to feel and behave different than normal. This is because of the effect that minimal sleep has on a person’s behavior. “People who have problems with sleep are at increased risk for developing emotional disorders, depression, and anxiety.” (Epstein). Those are only a few effects of sleep loss. More so, irritability, anger, stress, and anxiety can all be associated with sleep loss (Epstein). The University of Pennsylvania did a study that proved with only four and a half hours of sleep for one week people had a harder time staying positive. They more often were found to be feeling angry, sad, and mentally exhausted; however, after they went back to their normal sleeping habits their moods returned to normal (Epstein).
Doctors believe there may be another reason mood is affected by sleep. When someone gets sleep he or she have more energy for the day, and so people will exercise more, eat healthier, and do more leisurely activities. All of these things help boost the mood in a positive way. Then, when a person gets less sleep they do less of all those activities causing a decrease in positive mood (Peri, Camille. “Coping”).
However sleep does not just feed mood, but mood also feeds sleep.
Not only does sleep affect mood, but mood and mental states can also affect sleep. Anxiety increases agitation and arousal, which make it hard to sleep. Stress also affects sleep by making the body aroused, awake, and alert. People who are under constant stress or who have abnormally exaggerated responses to stress tend to have sleep problems. (Epstein)
This is especially seen in the relationship between sleep loss and depression. “Sleep deprivation and depression are so closely linked that sleep specialists aren’t always sure which came first in their patients.” (Peri, Camille. “Coping”). In 2005 a poll was taken and it proved that people with depression on average got less than six hours of sleep (Peri, Camille.“Ten Things”). In turn, out of Americans, fifteen to twenty percent of the people with sleep disorders also acquire major depression (Epstein). So it seems, bad sleeping habits stand guilty of impacting your mood and attitude in negative
ways.
Thanks to the brain people are able to go about our everyday lives without a second thought. However, just like the rest of the muscles in the body, the brain needs sleep too. It is just as difficult to function mentally without sleep as it is to function physically. There are several reasons why having a poor night of sleep leaves people feeling foggy the next day. Not getting the right amount of sleep can lower attention level, tamper with memory, mess up judgement, slow down thought processes and decision making, and decrease learning capabilities (L.,S.).
By taking out only an hour and a half of a usual night’s sleep, a person lowers his or her daytime attention and alertness by 32 percent (Brues). When it comes to memory, people can not skim by on only a little bit of sleep. The brain must go through all five cycles, especially the REM cycle which is most important for memory. When people learn something new their brain builds a new passageway with neurons. These neurons can only be completely built with proteins released during the REM cycle (L.,S.). Being unfocused and foggy from sleep loss also makes it harder to attain new information and skills, and if someone can not learn something properly how is the person expected to remember it (Brues).
One of the most important learning skills that require sleep is learning of language. When learning language the most active part of the brain is the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. In a fully rested person magnetic resonance imaging shows that the temporal lobe is very active while learning language based skills. Whereas a person with poor sleep shows almost no activity in this part of the brain as language related skills are attempting to be learned. One effect such as slurred speech has been observed in the people with a poor sleep. The people with better sleep then perform better in verbal language tests than their sleep lacking comrades. A couple possible reasons for these poor results from the subjects with poor sleep could be the fact that they have not regenerated their neurons with sleep, and that their parietal lobe is not accustomed to taking over for the temporal lobe, and thus it takes more time for it to carry these tasks out (L.,S.). With that it is seen just how important sleep is to the body mentally.
Essentially, our body is like a garden. If a garden gets its proper care and watering it will flourish and produce for you what is intended. If the garden does not get the necessary amount of water then slowly section by section the garden will quit producing what is expected of it, and it will dry up and eventually die. Whereas a body, when it gets the right amount of sleep, will function just as it should, but if it gets too little each part will begin to shut down. First ,your body will quit functioning physically, emotionally, and eventually even mentally.
Works Cited
Brues, Michael J. “Sleep Habits: More Important Than You Think.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 15 March 2006. Web. 19 November 2012.
Epstein, Lawrence J. “Sleep and Mood.” Get Sleep. WGBH Educational Foundation, 15 Dec. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
Leach, Michelle. “How Lack of Sleep Affects Us Physically.” eHow Health. Demand Media, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 November 2012.
L.,S.. “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain and Behavior.” Serendip. Serendip, 3 January 2008. Web. 11 November 2012.
Morgnthaler, Timothy. “Lack of Sleep, Can It Make You Sick.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 August 2012. Web. 12 November 2012.
Peri, Camille. “Coping With Excessive Sleepiness.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 19 January 2010. Web. 15 November 2012.
Peri, Camille. “Ten Things To Hate About Sleep Loss.” WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 12 September 2012. Web. 18 November 2012.
Stein, Rob. “Scientists Finding Out What Losing Sleep Does to a Body.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 9 October 2005. Web. 18 November 2012.