Sleep: What Are The Side-Effects If You Don’t Have An Adequate Amount?
Regular sleep is one of the few really critical human functions. Just as important as nourishment, humans need sleep for survival. It’s actually more important than eating, since humans are able to go much longer without eating than they can without sleeping. The lack of sleep has been shown to lower the life span. Sleep deprivation will cause problems with the immune system, body temperature, moods and memory. When sleep deprivation becomes extreme it can be fatal.
Adults generally require sleep for eight hours a night. Children are recommended more sleep, which changes with their age. During sleep, children receive growth hormones. Children who don’t sleep enough won’t grow to meet their full genetic potential. Children not getting their recommended amount of sleep also may have a poor performance in school.
A lowered immune response is known to result in illness. Heart problems are one consequence of a lack of sleep. Constantly sleeping too little causes high blood pressure. Hypertension can lead to serious problems with the heart and circulatory system. Stress hormones are elevated as well. More fat is stored because of these hormones. This results in weight gain, particularly a gain of unhealthy belly fat. The risk of cancer is also lowered by getting enough sleep.
Many everyday behaviors are negatively affected by not enough sleep. Test scores are higher for people who get more sleep. Memory retrieval for short term memories is easier after sleeping. Sleeping can make it easier to remember a new task. To be able to concentrate, sleep is required. The proper concentration for academic subjects suffers without sleep, as do other types of concentration. Both verbal communications and math are affected by sleep levels.
Many tasks that don’t seem dangerous will become so for a person who has not slept long enough. Being drunk and driving is as dangerous as staying awake too long and driving. Machinery that is used while a person is sleepy can put that person in severe danger. Without the right quantity of sleep, reaction times become slower. An excessive lack of sleep can create a situation where the body falls asleep inappropriately. These small sleep microbursts last five to 10 seconds. In those seconds, injuries are likely to occur. In the U.S., fatigue causes about 71,000 highway injuries. Fatigue regularly causes 1,500 deaths in highway accidents.
Every human system is dependent on the recuperation provided by sleep. Without the proper amount, both mind and body will suffer. Sleep keeps hormone levels regulated and keeps the mind and body alert during the day. By missing out on one hour of our much-needed sleep, our days will be less productive and we feel less attentive.