Sleep deprivation is often associated with the development of medical conditions, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD). As disturbance in sleep could cause deprivation and shorten one’s sleep duration, it is often taken into account when carrying out related studies. Short-term sleep deprivation not only raises blood pressure and produces stress hormones, but also leads to irregular heartbeats [1]. These major risk factors are precursors to coronary disease. In this essay, I will summarize the findings of five studies in relation to sleep deprivation and the increased risk of CVD.
Westerlund et al. investigated sleep duration and insomnia symptoms in relation to incidental cardiovascular events among 41,192 adults. Results were collected through a 36-page questionnaire from which 4,031 events varying from heart failure to cardiovascular deaths were identified in a 13.2 years follow-up period [2].
While insomnia is essentially unrelated to the risk, it is found that short sleep has to be accompanied by sleep disturbance in order for cardiovascular events to occur. Evidence suggesting a modest positive association between short sleep duration and CVD, especially myocardial infarction, was observed in individuals with frequent insomnia symptoms (hazard ratio of 1.42; 95% CI 1.15-1.76). However, the validity of the sleep habits is questioned as they were measured at baseline only and could have changed over the years. The authors also referred to a similar study by Chandola et al. that reported that individuals with disturbed sleeps have an increased risk of death from CVD [3].
I chose this study because it has a large cohort which eliminates sample bias. High quality data could be obtained from this longitudinal epidemiological ...
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...CVD. Moreover, the objective methods in obtaining the required data were carefully planned and the results were tabulated clearly.
Based on the 5 studies above, a modest observation is seen between sleep deprivation and CVD. These study findings are of clinical importance as they suggest the probable usage of sleep duration as an additional risk marker for prevalence of CVD, regardless of ethnicity. Although implication of short sleep duration on CVD is consistent in various populations, it still differs within gender, age groups and race. Future research, using current studies as a framework, is needed to further prove the complex mechanisms underlying the causal relationship between sleep deprivation and CVD. Health authorities should also continuously promote the importance of adequate sleep as it is vital for better physical health and cognitive functioning.
The article "Causes and consequences of sleep deprivation in hospitalized patients" written by Stephanie Pilkington is exploring the causes and consequences of sleep deprivation in hospitalized patients. The author provides a brilliant summary of factors that affect the level of sleep experienced by patients in hospitals and the effects of sleep deprivation on the health and the wellbeing of these individuals. The article goes on to state that for sleep-deprived patients, there were bio-cognitive consequences for their health and recovery, with particular effects on immune functioning, inflammation, parasympathetic equilibrium, carbohydrate metabolism and cognitive performance.
Chronic sleep loss is becoming more common in modern culture and less restricted to sleep-deprived diseases such as insomnia. Suggested to be the result of a number car, industrial, medical, and other occupational accidents, sleep deprivation is beginning to be recognized as a public concern. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control
Each year at least 40 million Americans suffer from long term, persistent sleep disorders, and an additional 20 million experience occasional sleeping problems. About 60 million Americans a year have insomnia and it tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men. It is estimated that 18 million Americas are suffering from sleep apnea, 12 million have RLS, and 250,000 are affected by narcolepsy. Adults typically need between 6 and 10 hours of sleep per 24 hour period, and most people need approximately 8 hours of sleep per day. Infants generally need about 16 hours per day; whereas, teenagers require 9 hours on average. In the first 3 months of...
Sleep Deprivation and the correlation with depression can cover a range of topics. Stemming from how depression occurs, the symptoms affecting human bodies, treatments, other related sleep disorders. There are several different models used such as the polysomnographic research, (Palagini, 2013) integrative, prospective and retrospective models; along with chronotherapists in a controlled environment stimuli (light and sleep deprivation) seen in Hemmeter’s research was used also in order to conduct the experiments. The literature review critique articles relating to sleep deprivation and correlation with depression.
...mportant that people know what can happen to them if they don’t get enough hours of sleep. I choose this topic because I felt that it was both interesting, and entertaining.
Sleep is a condition of the mind and body in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes are closed, the muscles are relaxed and consciousness is practically suspended. On average a person needs between seven and nine hours of sleep, which can be hard to achieve with the stresses of life. Sleep can drastically affect how the mind functions. Studies have found that a lack of sleep can decrease motor skills and affect a persons memory. Among memory and motor skills, lack of sleep can negatively affect cognition. Cognition is the process of thinking which is needed for the writing process and other creative elements. If people increase the amount of sleep they receive, then there writing process will be better. Some studies have
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive and to function in day to day operations, but not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Some people can survive on very little sleep, i.e. five hours a night, and some people need a lot of sleep, to the extend that they are sleeping up to 10 to sometimes 15 hours a night (Nature, 2005). According to Wilson (2005) the general rule states that most people need from seven to eight hours of sleep. The deprivation of sleep in our society in continually increasing with the demands in society increasing work loads, the myth that a few hours of sleep is only necessary to function properly and that sleep is sometimes considered as killing time (Nature, 2005). Sometimes sleep deprivation is also caused by other situations like sleep disorders, i.e. sleep apnea, chronic insomnia or medical conditions such as stress (Wilson, 2005).
At first, people's eyes begin to feel dry and they have trouble concentrating, causing their eyesight to weaken. Their reaction time slows down as well as their thinking process and judgment. These effects are minor but as one’s body weakens, their immune system is affected as well. This may cause their body to catch an illness or disease. Afterwards, their body becomes very weak and it will take a while before it can heal properly. In addition, their heart gets tired and cannot perform its job properly, so prolonged sleep deprivation also leads to risk of heart diseases. Not only does sleep loss make people feel tired, but it is also harmful to their body by increasing the risk of health problems (“Sleep Deprivation: What Are the Physical Effects” , Griffin R. Morgan, Mann Jeff, Peri Camille, Pietrengeelo
The four stages of sleep are REM (rapid eye movement sleep), NREM1 (non-rem), NREM2, and NREM3. During the REM stage “your heart rate rises, your breathing becomes rapid and irregular, and every half-minute or so your eyes dart around in momentary burst of activity behind closed lids” (Myers, 2014, p. 96).
Sleep is a very important factor in the human function. Our body and brain is able to reset itself and rejuvenate while we sleep. When we do not get the required amount of sleep, we start to feel lethargic and foggy minded, because our mind and body wasn’t able to replenish itself. Sleep is imperative that an insignificant rest deficiency or lack of sleep can affect our ability to remember things; decisions and can affect our temperament. Chronic sleep deficiency can get the body to feel agitated and it could lead to serious health problems such as, heart problems, stress, acne, and obesity.
Heart disease: The Nurses’ Health Study proved that women who slept 9-11 hours per night were 38% more likely to have coronary heart disease as compares to women who slept 8 hours.
Research suggests that short term consequences for lack of sleep include negative affect on judgement and mood, ability to remember information, and the heightened risk of accidents (Lemola, Ledermann, & Friedman, 2013). Long term consequences include poor health conditions as sleep deprivation has been proven to cause many diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiac issues (Lemola, Ledermann, & Friedman, 2013). Furthermore, individuals who are poor sleepers report higher levels of anger, depression, irritability, tension, and overall poor mood as opposed to those who get a full night of sleep (Stasio, Curry, Wagener & Glassman, 2011).
Lack of sleep affects us many different ways in our daily lives. Think of yourself as a battery, and you’re using all the energy. After you 're done using the energy, you have to charge it. Humans are just like batteries when it comes to sleep. We use all of our energy in the day time doing our daily activities. Like a battery, if you don’t rest or charge yourself up, you’re not going to function very well. It is necessary to have a satisfying amount of sleep. Lack of sleep will affect you in ways such as: mood swings, loss of focus, change in behavior, and difficulties in everyday tasks.
Feature, Michael. "Chronic Sleep Deprivation and Health Effects." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .
Wells, M., & Vaughn, B. V. (2012). Poor Sleep Challenging the Health of a Nation. Neurodiagnostic Journal,52(3), 233-249.