Sunday, January 13, 2008

Consequence of Sleep Deprivation

It is hard to define just how much sleep is normal; different people seem to need different amounts. Sleep experts define “enough” sleep as how long a person would sleep if there were no alarm clocks; that is, left to decide entirely on your own, how long would you sleep? The other way to define it is how long one needs to sleep in order to feel alert and rested the next day. However, duration of sleep is not the only thing that matters –; the quality of sleep also matters.
Too little sleep or poor-quality sleep can cause a number of problems, including difficulty with short-term memory, concentration, depression, anxiety, irritability, poor energy and reduced libido. In short, quality of life at work and at home may suffer terribly due to insufficient or poor sleep. All of these problems may resolve when sleep duration increases or sleep quality improves.

One problem related to sleep deprivation deserves particular emphasis: Automobile and truck accidents attributed to sleepy drivers account for thousands of deaths each year.

Although the impact is uncertain in humans, sleep-deprived rodents have reduced immune function and higher susceptibility to infection.