Sleep Deprivation and the Effects on Human

Sleep Deprivation and the effects on human

Bao Huy Nguyen

Sleep plays an essential role in balancing human’s good health and well-being in the daily life. Having enough sleep can keep you stay away from physical, mental and emotional problems – Travis Bradberry (2014) (1). Sleeping is one of the most basic activities in human life. Averagely, people need to spend 7 to 9 hours sleeping per night so that their body and mind can relax sufficiently. Unfortunately, more than half of Americans get to sleep less than 7 hours each night, according to the National Sleep Foundation (1).  Not many people recognize the importance of sleep due to several factors, such as: finishing the project at work, playing online games, updating newsfeed on Facebook, staying up for a night out on the town, watching soccer matches, etc. If these activities occur a few days and steadily become their daily habit, they will not get enough sleep which can even cause death. For instance, Lee Moran (2014) cites a case of Jiang Xiaoshan, a Chinese soccer fan, died after staying awake 11 consecutive days to watch all matches of the European Football Championship, reported by Huffington Post (2012) (2). Therefore, sleep deprivation is actually a serious concern in human modern life that they are unfortunately underestimate it more or less.

Lack of sleep will make the biological clock become disorder, which slowly damages inner organs as well as the immune system. Besides, sleep deficiency can cause bad effect on cognitive function and emotional stability. That is the reason why “sleep deprivation is the single most dangerous aspect of any sleep disorder, because you have no idea that you are compromised cognitively, physically and emotionally” says Michael Breus, sleep expert and upwave reviewer, quoted from Alia Hoyt’s article (2014) (3). Jane E. Brody’s (2013) depicts that according to sleep specialists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, among others, “A number of bodily systems are negatively affected by inadequate sleep: the heart, lungs and kidneys; appetite, metabolism and weight control; immune function and disease resistance; sensitivity to pain; reaction time; mood; and brain function” (4).

Firstly, prolonged sleep deprivation will put your health into the risk of getting dangerous diseases because the working process of inner organs and hormones become disorder. Ben Quinn (2011) quoted Professor Cappuccio, “If you sleep less than 6 hours per night and have disturbed sleep you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of developing or dying from a stroke” (6). Because short sleep will increase blood pressure, stimulate inflammation and alter metabolic hormones, people who are even without traditional risk factors can increase the risk of stroke.