!44: The Importance of Sleep For Health and to Function Properly

!±8± The Importance of Sleep For Health and to Function Properly

Have you ever tried to work straight through without sleeping? Have you tried to do your normal tasks when you have not slept for the last 24 hours or more? If you have never tried this, you would not be able to appreciate the problems associated with sleep deprivation. In case you have experienced this state at least once in your life, just like most of us have, you would immediately remember how awful you felt on such days. Although we do not give two hoots about getting a good night's rest when we are young, and give sleep a miss occasionally, sleepless nights leave their mark on you. They can affect you at many levels and the importance of sleep cannot be overstressed. If you are still not convinced or fail to see the kind of impact sleeplessness can have on your life, you need to learn more about what happens when we do not get enough sleep.

Some of the common changes in physical and mental condition resulting from insufficient or no sleep are:

* Changes in Appearance

If you are conscious about how you look, extended or frequent periods of improper sleep can give you dark circles under the eyes, a worn, shallow and tired appearance.

* Changes in Physical Response

Your reaction time increases, and your movements become sluggish. Your hands may tremble and you may have hallucinations. You may suffer from memory lapses and have episodes of wandering concentration. In fact, the effects of insufficient sleep have been likened to that of alcohol consumption, and can render your body unfit to function in the long run.

* Changes in Immune Response

The capability of the body to resist diseases deteriorates and you may find yourself falling prey to cold and influenza more frequently as a result of not sleeping well. The human body uses the energy available in the body during sleep to resist disease and depriving the body of sleep upsets this natural defense mechanism.

* Changes in Metabolism

You will find yourself putting on weight if you do not sleep well. Your body tends to slow down the metabolic rate when deprived of sleep and this causes the storage of fat, which results in weight gain.

This is not an exhaustive list of the havoc that poor sleep can cause with your body and mind. There are many more effects that affect different people differently. The best course of action available to you is to determine the amount of sleep that you need and ensure that you get it. Oversleeping brings its own side effects in its wake so make sure that you use an alarm clock to prevent you from sleeping too much. Sleep gives much needed rest to your body and mind - you should not try to skip it.