Humans spend about a third of our lives sleeping,
Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. The way you feel while you are awake depends in part on what happens while you are sleeping.
But sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. Good sleep improves your brain performance, mood, and health.
During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health.
“Healthy sleep encompasses three major things,
One is how much sleep you get. Another is sleep quality—that you get uninterrupted and refreshing sleep. The last is a consistent sleep schedule.”
People who work the night shift or irregular schedules may find getting quality sleep extra challenging. And times of great stress—like the current pandemic—can disrupt our normal sleep routines. But there are many things you can do to improve your sleep.
millions of people do not get enough sleep and many suffer from a lack of sleep
Most of those with these problems go undiagnosed and untreated. In addition,
more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month
surveys conducted by the NSF (1999-2004) reveal that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more.
sleep adaptive inactivity", allowing us to be productive during the daylight hours while avoiding overexertion
n the first few years of life, you see that the brain is making tons of new connections The brain uses sleep to reorganize the connections between its cells, building electrical networks that support our Memory and ability to learn
the brain switches into maintenance mode, mostly using sleep time for cleaning and
repair. Perhaps sleep provides a means of increasing the efficiency of behavior by regulating its timing and by reducing energy use when activity is not beneficial."
sleep is a common trick in both the animal and plant kingdoms. Some trees shed their leaves in the autumn and cease photosynthesizing, which could be thought of as a kind of botanical slumber.
Bears hibernate in the winter, in part to avoid fruitlessly expending energy hunting and foraging at a time when there is not much food to be found.
Other mammals, such as echidnas, enter a sleepy state known as torpor, where their metabolism slows down to barely a whisper to help them get through hard times. Perhaps sleep is simply our version of such "adaptive inactivity", allowing us to be productive during the daylight hours while avoiding overexertion
Getting inadequate sleep over time can raise your risk for chronic (long-term) health problems.
It can also affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others.
Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders. These range from heart disease and stroke to obesity and dementia.
sleep affects your heart and circulatory system, , respiratory system, and immune system and how much sleep is enough
How much sleep you need changes with age. Experts recommend school-age children get at least nine hours a night and teens get between eight and 10. Most adults need at least seven hours or more of sleep each night.
adults need less sleep as they get older. This isn’t true. Older adults still need the same amount. But sleep quality can get worse as you age.
Older adults are also more likely to take medications that interfere with sleep.
If you have one bad night’s sleep and take a nap, or sleep longer the next night, that can benefit you,” says Wright. “But if you have a week’s worth of getting too little sleep, the weekend isn’t sufficient for you to catch up. That’s not healthy behavior.”
For adults, “if you’re sleeping more than nine hours a night and you still don’t feel refreshed, there may be some underlying medical issue,” she explains
