What is Sleep Deprivation
By: Mark ShowalterTotal Views: 247, Word Count: 615,
The answer to what is sleep deprivation lies in identifying the condition and origin of inadequate sleep. Lack of sleep can be a result of voluntary and deliberate choice of less sleep, unhealthy lifestyle, or as a result of being subjected to punishments like physical or mental torture. The other reason for sleep deprivation can be due to incidence of various ailments categorized under sleep disorders.
The Causes of Sleep Deprivation
A normal adult individual needs about 7 to 8 hours of sleep in order to stay physically fit and healthy. There can be several factors or causes that can lead to sleep deprivation or inadequate sleep. The following are the circumstances that are responsible for sleep deprivation.
· Due to overburdened work load many individuals may not allow himself or herself to go for proper schedules of sleep.
· If an individual experiences poor quality of sleep
· Another very important factor for causing sleep deprivation is if the person is affected by any form of sleep disorder like sleep walking, narcolepsy and such.
· Sleep can be affected if the person is experiencing chronic emotional stress, depression and anxiety.
· If the individual has the disorder of intermittent awaking from sleep on hearing noise.
· While traveling across the various time zones of the world or employed in night shift jobs.
· Sleep can also be hampered if the individual is suffering from painful medical ailments and breathing problems.
What is Sleep Deprivation and What are its Effects
An individual gets vulnerable to several diseases and disorders due to sleep deprivation or the phenomenon of general lack of sleep. The following are the effects of sleep deprivation.
- Due to sleep deprivation the body can lose the capacity to metabolize glucose leading to type 2 form of diabetes.
- The brain gets adversely affected if not taken enough rest and sleep. The sleep inadequacy can lead to activation of the stress hormones and can affect the process of cell production of the adult brain.
- The incidence of sleep deprivation can lead to over activity of the brain on the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which is responsible for managing the stress related aspects like mood, digestion, sex, usage of energy. On the other hand the brain activity gets suppressed in the area where it deals with secretion of hormones related to growth.
- The healing process of the body especially burns is affected due to improper sleep.
- Due to long hours of awaking people might get affected with cramped and aching muscles, fascia tears, hernia and such. The motor skills get impaired due to derivation of sleep.
- Obesity is another side effect that is caused due to lack of sleep.
To promote good sleep you may take up an effective medical aid like Melatrol. The medicine will help you to have sound sleep and will keep you away from all the harmful effects of sleep deprivation. If you are interested to know further about what is sleep deprivation and its effective remedies, you are recommended to consult a certified physician.
About the Author
Mark Showalter is an expert in treating various types of sleep disorders. He has carried out series of research works that deal with the various mysteries of sleep and its associated disorders. If you find yourself to be too stressed out during the day or suffer from disorders caused by improper sleep, you may take a good medical sleep aid. You must be prudent enough to select the right one for you that would keep you away from any form of harmful side effects.
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