Lack of Sleep Essay Example

It has always recommended that getting at least eight hours a sleep a night will make your life less complicated. Sleep deprivation is generally the cause of sleep disorders such as apnea, narcolepsy, and insomnia. Everyone knows without the proper amount of sleep, the mind will be groggy the next day, and as a result, many more mistakes will be made, meaning that you should get a full night's rest before taking a test or a little nap before a long drive in a car. But scientists are beginning to realize that sleep is not just a mental recharge, but also important for the body as well. When a person sleeps, the body and mind are working just as hard as when the person is awake, correcting chemical imbalances, assuring proper blood sugar levels for the next day, and maintaining the memory.
The effect of lack of sleep on the body is often worse than just not feeling like you got any sleep the next day. There can be serious health issues that result from not getting proper rest. The most obvious side effect of a lack of sleep is not having energy the next day. However it is more than feeling less than our best, the body actually performs less efficiently when we are tired or not rested. Performance, productivity, memory, and a whole lot of other things are all reduced when our body is running on less sleep than we need.
Physiologic studies suggest that a sleep deficit may put the body into a state of high alert, increasing the production of stress hormones and driving up blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. Other studies have found that sleep influences the functioning of the lining inside blood vessels, which could explain why people are most prone to heart attacks and strokes during early morning hours.
The body also needs rest to repair tissue, cope with stress, and recharge the immune system. A lack of sleep hampers these functions in the body. The ability to handle stress and fight off illness lessens when we fail to get enough