After a very tumultuous week of midterms and other such responsibilities that can only be enjoyed by the average college student, I am back in action and enjoying spring break. After a plane flight, a good meal, and seeing my friends and family, it became clear that there was one thing I needed to do: sleep. You see, the past week I had racked up a total of about 12 hours of sleep. While I don't exactly regret the three all-nighters my roommates and I pulled (I got a lot of work done! We had some good times!), lack of sleep can be extremely hazardous to your health, and can potentially be deadly.
According to this
report, studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can affect the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and nervous systems. What exactly does that mean? Among other unpleasant side effects, staying up can harm you by:
- Making you fatter. Staying up makes the hormones that both suppress and increase appetite go completely out of whack. Additionally, it was found that sleep-deprived people were more likely to have a diet high in cholesterol and saturated fat. Diabetes is also a hidden risk of getting little to no sleep.
- Making you more likely to have heart disease or high blood pressure. Women who slept five or fewer hours of sleep per night were 45 percent more likely to have a heart attack, and those with sleep disorders are more at risk of having elevated blood pressure.
- Making you more accident-prone. Drowsiness during the day leads to issues with balance and control, often leading to car accidents.
- Making you depressed. Adults and adolescents who don't get enough sleep report more issues with stress, depression and alcohol use. Kids also may suffer more behavioral problems, such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
- Killing you. Those who get five or fewer hours of sleep per night have a 15 percent greater risk of dying, regardless of the cause.
The evidence is clear, get some shut-eye! Aim for 7-8 hours per night for optimal health. And be on the lookout for my next post in which I'll give you some tips for how to get the best ZZ's you could ever dream of.
How much sleep do you get each night? How does it affect your daily life, health and well-being?
Comments (21)
All true, though I don't agree on the weight gain part. My boyfriend stayed up for nearly three days straight (hour or two nap off on) to finish his senior design project and got a nasty illness from it a few days later. You can add that it weakens your immune system's ability to fight off infection as well. Oh yah, If I get less than six hours of sleep i'm extremely grouchy.
Thank you for sharing! I do think a lot of people underestimate the power of sleep. I know I used to - and one thing I really notice now is that when I don't get enough sleep I start gaining weight and once my sleeping pattern goes back normal I'm okay again :)
One thing about sleep that some people don't realize is that 7-8 hours should be of actual sleeping. If you wake up 3 or 4 times during the time you're not getting good sleep which can cause problems too. It needs to be 7-8 hours of good sleep, without breathing issues or anything like that.
almost everyday afterschool I have to get a little sleep, but most of time I try to fight it. After I'd get cranky and deny being tired when my family would notify me if I were falling asleep! Still, they always tell me that the sleep is good for me, so I've loosened up. I totally agree with this blog though, rest for the brain is good :)
I sleep a lot and I got made fun of.....
I sleep for 7-8 hours a day.. :)
I agree completely...sleeping is what makes me feel so much better in and out. I used to sleep less than 3 hours in high school and had a shitty self esteem and bad grades. Now I sleep 7-9 hours and I feel great.
I must say that I can look back on those years fondly now and remember all the nights I spent trying to fight the sandman with protein, sugary drinks and sheer will power. And I was always sick. But there were some good times to be had from that. And yes, it will cause all those things....and if you continue to get poor sleep you can gain weight....
Now that I work for "the man" for awhile, it's nice to get 7 hours of sleep a night. But I'm trying to mentally prepare once again, because medical school, I have a feeling, will keep me up much later and longer.
i need more sleep
I get around 7 hours. Sometimes I have the opportunity to sleep more, but for some reason my internal clock wakes up after 7 hours. I guess sometimes it's because I'm well rested the day before or I'm not that active, but I agree... sleep is really important. I can't do all nighters, they're so painful.
i really need to start getting the full 9 hours. i usually get aroud 7. i always wanna stay up super late and talk to my boyfriend. maybe i should break up with him :P
I wish I can get more than 5 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky... it's kinda hard for me since I'm a computer engineering major at a really tough university and I'm pretty much retarded compared to my classmates so it takes me a while to understand things which leads to very little sleep. :(
During spring break, I slept 9-10 hours per night + random naps during the day. Oh how I miss that!
Sad to say, I guess I'm just going to die early. haha....
I need a LOT of sleep.
sleeping is indeed great
@pure_dasani@xanga - Same! People would think it was lame that I went to bed early.
But who was well rested while they were complaining of being tired? Exactly.
i loooove sleep. I get a good 9 hours a day!
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i love to sleep
but dont hv enought timeI wish I could. I try, but I haven't been able to bring myself to fall asleep quick enough in days. On average, the past couple of weeks I've gotten an average of 3 or 4 hours of sleep, and I'm starting to notice a very negative change in my personality.
Good thing I love my sleep. :)
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