Need To Sleep, Why Is It Important?

Sleep is necessary for the proper functioning of the human body. It is not at all strange that the body needs to sleep, to enjoy a relaxing moment, tranquility and rest in order to regenerate.

However, many believe that this explanation is not the most complete. Most people sleep between 8 and 9 hours a night, but the amount of sleep needed varies from person to person. For some, for example, only three hours are enough.

The amount of sleep needed also varies over the course of a person’s life. As you get older, you need less and less sleep .

If sleep’s only function were restorative, it would not explain why older people need fewer hours of sleep than younger people.

Additionally, individuals who lent themselves to sleep deprivation experiments have shown no lasting consequences. These experiments consist in keeping the person awake for a period of time that can last up to 200 consecutive hours.

The subject  presents fatigue, lack of concentration, irritability, decreased creativity and tends to suffer from hand tremors. However, when he is allowed to sleep, he quickly recovers to his normal condition.

The need for sleep is physiological

Sleep is a physiological need that allows you to recover the physical and psychological functions essential for full performance. Sleep and wakefulness are brain functions subject to alterations in the nervous system.

While we sleep, hormonal, biochemical, metabolic changes occur and the body temperature also changes. All these changes are necessary for the body to function properly throughout the day.

The researchers found that sleep is essential for learning and is closely linked to weather conditions; furthermore, it is of crucial importance to enjoy good health. However, it is not yet clear what its exact function is.

The most recognized research associates the need for sleep with tissue regeneration and energy recovery.  It also appears that sleep promotes memory consolidation and maintenance. When we sleep, our brains “get repaired”. It is as if we take it to a workshop during the night.

Why do we sleep?

There are two mechanisms or processes responsible for sleep. The S process and the C process. The S process is determined by the person’s habits regarding sleep and wakefulness. This process is characterized by an increase in the hours of sleep directly proportional to those of wakefulness. It’s like a debt being paid off.

Process C is regulated by the endogenous circadian rhythm  and does not depend on the person’s hours of sleep and wakefulness. We tend to sleep when the body temperature drops (first part of the night) and we wake up when it rises (second part of the night).

What happens if we don’t sleep?

Waking, Non-REM sleep (slow) and REM sleep (rapid) must necessarily follow each other in a harmonious way to ensure the maintenance of a good state of health. The impact that sleep deprivation has on the body is enormous and affects not only the physical state, but also the psychological one.

Some of the effects of sleep deprivation are:

• Memory changes
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Symptoms attributable to an attention deficit
• Deterioration of the immune system
• Decreased reflexes (increased response time and decreased accuracy)
• Poor body coordination
• Tremors
• Increased risk of obesity
• Increased risk of heart attacks
• Increased variability of the heart rhythm
• Neurological alterations
• Seizures
• Growth block

As you can see, sleep  is absolutely necessary, or at least it is clear that if we don’t, we can run into numerous problems.

Positive effects of sleep

In addition to being a pleasant time for many people, sleeping well has multiple positive effects on our body. Some specialists have identified six positive effects of sleep.

• Improve your memory. According to the results of various researches, taking a nap of about 90 minutes would help us to fix our memories and our skills.

• Protects the heart. People who sleep little or badly are three times more likely to suffer from heart failure than people who sleep well.

• Fights depression. When we sleep, we relax. This favors the production of serotonin, a hormone that counteracts the effects of stress. As a result, it helps us feel happier.

• Promotes health. Hours of sleep also serve to regenerate the immune system. This allows us to eliminate toxins and heal infections.

• Helps to lose weight. Lack of sleep causes adipocytes, or fat cells, to release less leptin, the hormone that calms the appetite.

• Increase our creativity. If the brain feels rested, the memory works perfectly. This improves our imaginative capacity, therefore creativity also increases.

It is clear that sleeping (even more so if you sleep well) offers numerous and important benefits. It must also be remembered that lack of sleep has negative consequences that in the long run can be harmful to our body.