Sarah Klein,
editor of the health section in The Huffington Post, writes on the benefits of one extra hour of sleep.
With Sunday being the end of Daylight Saving Time, the benefits of more sleep
and the downfalls of less sleep, become more discernable. According to the
article, “car accidents and heart attacks spike,” and, “productivity plummets,”
as a result of the hour lost in March when daylight savings time begins. Also
mentioned was a study done by a group of BBC journalists on the effects of an
extra hour of slumber. The study consisted dividing an assemblage of volunteers
into two groups where, for a week, one group slept for six and a half hours and
the other group slept for seven and a half hours. The next week the groups
switched the number of hours slept. Blood tests and “cognitive tasks” showed
that various genes (about 500) were turned on or off due to the extra hour
gained. According to BBC, the genes that were turned on or off, “helped protect against diabetes,
cancer, inflammation, and stress.” The article goes on to say that research has
shown how sleep improves, heart health, athletic performance, learning, and
memory.
The
majority of people tend to take for granted the importance of sleep and how
much our lives are dependent upon it. A common reason why we lose sleep is due
to are willingness and determination to get work done (homework, practicing,
job, etc.) at the expense of our sleep. Though we may feel like we are being
more productive by getting more work done late into the night, it really
hinders are productivity and learning, which then forces us to stay up later
the next night. This then causes us to fall in this vicious downward spiral. By
getting more sleep, we are able be more productive and learn better, which
therefore allows us to get our work done with more efficiency, which then
allows us to get more sleep.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/03/one-extra-more-hour-sleep-benefits_n_4182623.html
I am just going to go ahead and be the kid who points out that this is yet another reason why we should receive less homework, especially since it can hinder learning and it is probably not good for brain development either, which, as it happens, occurs a lot during the teenage years.
ReplyDeleteI am totally with Francesca, this whole article clearly shows how we need our sleep and the amount of homework we receive greatly hinders that especially when combined with extra-curricular activities. It's said that if we don't get distracted and manage our time well then we'll be able to get everything done and still get sleep, but this is rarely true for many students. The gist of it is, we get that we need to get more sleep and how critical it is, but the teachers need to realize that too so that we can actually apply that knowledge to real life.
ReplyDeleteThis study just goes to show how important it is for people to get as much sleep as possible. As Francesca and Casey said, it is extremely difficult to manage all of our work in order to get more sleep. I know plenty of kids that go to bed past midnight doing homework (often myself included) who also have to wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning to catch the train or practice. Also, most kids our age have come to accept this lack in sleep, and have overlooked its effects that can be damaging to our health.
ReplyDelete