Sleep is something all teenagers take for granted.Teens usually can’t fall asleep until later in the night due to the delay in their biological internal clock, sleep is not only necessary for survival, but it is also a huge key factor in success. Not getting the recommended amount of sleep can negativity effect your mental and physical health, and can increase your risks of developing heart disease, and increase your risk of getting in car crashes. It is estimated that about 70 percent of teenagers do not get the recommended amount of sleep.
Sleep is like eating, the carbs you eat gives you energy to think, be active, and concentrate. Sleep strengthens your learning and memory especially if you study within the next 3 hours of going to bed because it increases your likeliness of remembering what you studied or learned. Just like food, sleep also conserves energy because your brain and body finally have some downtime to save up energy for the next day. Not only is sleep good for cognitive reasons but it also reduces your chances of developing chronic disease such as, heart disease, diabetes, or even cancer. Who would have thought you could develop heart disease from not getting enough sleep? Studies have shown that people who usually sleep 6 hours or less are more likely to develop heart disease than a person who sleeps 7 or more hours a night. For example, sleep deprivation can cause high levels of fats in the blood stream which can eventually lead to heart disease. Also, light exposure during the middle of the night can increase your heart rate so if you’re up late or waking up repeatedly throughout the night and are exposed to light, evaluating your heart rate can increase your chances of heart disease.
In the brain, behind the forehead, there is a mass called the prefrontal cortex that is extremely important when making conscious quality decisions. This part of the brain is constantly working during the waking phase. It has to do with your response and thought process. For example, it helps you when you’re trying to figure out a puzzle or what to do while driving, it is crucial for the prefrontal cortex to be working properly to do your everyday tasks. It is when we are finally in a deep sleep that the prefrontal cortex gets down time and resets for the next day of hard work. Not only is sleep important for alertness and a good health, it is really important to get the right amount of sleep to be able to make decisions. This is how hard your brain works and if it doesn’t get the rest it needs, it will fail to do its job to help you concentrate and develop thoughts and responses. Sleep is the most important and precious thing teens should never take for granted. Sleep is important for your mental and physical health and can help you succeed in everyday tasks. Without the recommended daily amount of 9 or more hours of sleep overnight, your brain and body doesn’t get the rest it needs from working long and hard that it slowly starts to fail for its next day of daily tasks. Apart from food, sleep is one of the most important thing to get enough of and without enough of it, it can become very dangerous to your health.
