Now They'll Sleep!

If you're like me, you often don't get enough sleep for a wide variety of reasons. You're out all night and have to get up for work the next morning. You have to cram for an early exam. Or, if you're even more like me, sometimes stumbleupon, facebook, cracked, or sporcle get the best of you, and you wind up staying up half the night to learn about the world's most disturbingly evil birds or the six animals that kill nature's scariest creatures for fun (and yes, the Golden Eagle makes BOTH of those lists, people).

As part of the continuation of my personal pledge toward health and fitness in honor of National Service Week, I've realized that getting more sleep is one of the most important things that I can do to start feeling better. According to a Harvard health study, "more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and sleep difficulties visit 75% of us at least a few nights per week."  That certainly sounds like me, in addition to the fact that when I don't sleep six hours I wind up sleeping eleven just to make up for it.  But what are these awful sleep schedules and tactics actually doing to me, and how are they affecting my health?

Turning now to WebMD (or the favorite hangout of hypochondriacs), the short term effects of sleep deprivation are startling enough - decreased performance and alertness, memory and cognitive impairment, and a general reduction in your quality of life.  But it's the long term effects that are even more alarming, a long list of possible illnesses that includes high blood pressure, heightened risk of heart attack or stroke, psychiatric problems, and attention deficit disorder.  So yes, improving your health this year by simply sleeping more regularly and fully can prevent you from being the poster child for next  year's National Service Week Theme, "Fighting Against Diseases."

Another astonishing effect of sleep deprivation is obesity.  According to the National Sleep Foundation, discharges for children with sleep apnea in the United States, a condition that is often directly correlated with obesity, have increased 436% in the past twenty years.  Sleep apnea can lead to exhaustion during the day, which makes it much harder to sustain an exercise program.  Glucose levels for sleepers with sleep deprivation were also shown to be much lower than those of normal sleepers, which can lead to imbalances in hormone levels that can affect weight gain and overall health into the future.  In a sleep study conducted by the foundation, eleven healthy young adults were only allotted four hours of sleep for six nights, and some of their glucose levels dropped to diabetic levels.  It's absolutely amazing what getting a good amount of sleep each night can do for your health, and your fitness!

With that, my advice is this - when you start to get tired, don't try and fight it.  I know that there have been times when I have powered through exhaustion for no good reason and have stumbled upon my "second wind," but a second wind can be a dangerous thing.  Regulated sleep is vital to sustaining your body, and while we are all still young, it's important that we take care of it.  Also, get some regular exercise during the day - this will help you be able to fall asleep faster at night.  Lastly, a sound machine can be extremely beneficial for those of you who, also like me, often have a wandering mind at night thinking about the seventeen other things that you can do besides sleeping.

Now sleep, my pretties.  Now you'll sleep.