Sleep and Teenagers

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Focus Question: Why is sleep important for young teenagers? Sleep is a fundamental need for everyone who needs sleep. Sleep is as important as eating food and drinking fluids. But teenagers are the ones seen not getting enough sleep at night. It is proven that teenagers get the minimum hours of sleep than any other age group. Teenagers are seen getting about five hours or less of sleep each night. Lack of sleep can affect many thing in a negative way. Sleep deprivation can affect things such as abilities to learn, listen, pay attention, and drive. It can also affect someone's mental health and physical health. Sleep is important for many reasons. Nothing can replace a good night of sleep, not even any pills or vitamins. We all have a internal body clock which makes us feel sleepy throughout the day. Our internal body clock controls the "circadian rhythms" in our bodies. These "circadian rhythms" are what let our bodies know when we are sleepy and it also tells us when we suppose to be awake. (UCLA) Our bodies know when it is time to prepare for bed, a hormone called melatonin is released when it is dark outside which causes our bodies to feel tired. (Mann, Denise) It is very important to listen to our bodies. This is something most teens don’t do. During the day a compound called adenosine builds up in our bodies and when we go to sleep our bodies break that adenosine that had been building up throughout the day. Adenosine is a nucleoside that occurs naturally in all cells of the body. Chemically it is 6- amino-9- beta-D- ribofuranosyl-9-H-purine (Mandal). Adenosine is an important hormone in sleep. As soon as we wake up, adenosine builds up in our brains. During the day, as the hours go by it continues to build up... ... middle of paper ... ...s Not to Scrimp on Sleep. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. Feature, Denise MannWebMD. "Lack of Sleep and the Immune System." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. "TEENS, SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND AUTOMOBILE CRASHES . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014 (Farm Bureau News) Feature, Camille PeriWebMD. "10 Surprising Effects of Lack of Sleep." WebMD. WebMD, 08 May 0000. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. "Teens and Sleep." Sleep for Teenagers. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. "Why Teenagers Really Do Need an Extra Hour in Bed." - Opinion. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. "What Makes You Sleep?" - NHLBI, NIH. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. "Common Sleep Problems." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Ed. Mary L. Gavin. The Nemours Foundation, 01 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2014. "Adenosine - What Is Adenosine?" Adenosine - What Is Adenosine? N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

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