Sleep Tight!
(Attention Step) “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” is more than just a quote from one of the greatest minds of all time, Benjamin Franklin, it is an aphorism that tells the truth, though, getting plenty of sleep each night is not something many people seem to do anymore. A majority of us are too overwhelmed with what goes on in our lives that it has begun to impact the amount of rest we should be striving for at night. Not only does sleep play a role in how someone may feel throughout the day, but also a rather large role in our mental and physical well being. The time we spend sleeping is the same time that our bodies begin to restore and recharge themselves, so to speak. Furthermore, there is no substitute for sleep that produces the same, or even similar results, that a
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All of us have had nights that we have struggled to sleep, or were prevented from sleeping due to our busy lives. Correspondingly, our brains on the mornings after these nights of little sleep may feel the effect in a major way. There are fluids in the brain, that are only produced during a time of slumber, which remove wastes from the cells and allow us to think clearly and focus more. If the brain did not produce cerebrospinal fluid wastes would build up and clog the spaces between blood vessels and tissues. The long lasting effects of poor sleeping habits are thoroughly explained in a TED Talk by Jeff Illiff, where he states that, “worsening sleep quality and sleep duration are associated with a greater amount of amyloid-beta building up in the brain” (Illiff). The production of amyloid-beta, a type of plaque formed on the brain that can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, can be reduced with plenty of sleep. Though we may not think much about missing a few hours of sleep throughout the week, there are noticeable drawbacks to reducing your sleep