Sleep: Sleep and National Sleep Foundation Essay

Submitted By eelycat
Words: 691
Pages: 3

We spend a third of our lives doing this one activity, without it we wouldn’t be able to achieve the simplest of tasks. According to the national sleep foundation (2007,) preschoolers sleep ten to eleven hours in a twenty-four hour period while adults acquire the maximum of six.
Why do we sleep? Our body administers sleep the same way that it regulates drinking, eating, and breathing. while we may not frequently think about why, we can all admit that sleep makes us feel better. without sleep, it would make us feel worse, which gives us more reason to agree that sleep is a necessity to life. Although it is essential, scientists still do not know why we do it. Pete Bils of the Better Sleep council says that, “95% of Americans get less than 8 hours of sleep while 29% of adults reported of getting an average of 6 hours or less.”
Sleeping Disorders Each year, at least 40 million Americans are handicapped from sleep disorders .The three main sleeping disorders that will be discussed are; insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy.
Everyone every so often suffers from short-term insomnia, this difficulty may be the aftermath from stress, diet, or many other agents. Insomnia almost always alters job attainment and well- being the next day. About 60 million Americans a year have insomnia regularly or for prolonged periods of time, For short-term insomnia, doctors may appoint sleeping pills. Most sleeping pills stop working after several weeks of nightly use, however, and long-term use can actually interfere with good sleep. Mild insomnia often can be reduced or cured by practicing good sleep habits. Sleep apnea is a disorder of interrupted breathing during sleep, It usually occurs in order with fat expansion or loss of muscle strength with aging. These adjustments allow the windpipe to destruct while breathing when muscles relax during sleep. People with sleep apnea should never take sedatives or sleeping pills, which can prevent them from awakening enough to breathe. Lifestyle changes and/or mouthpieces may relieve mild sleep apnea. People who have amenable or oppressive sleep apnea may need breathing devices or surgery. Narcolepsy affects an estimated of 250,000 Americans, according to Brandon, people with narcolepsy have frequent "sleep attacks” at various times of the day, even if they have had a normal amount of night-time sleep. These attacks last from several seconds to more than 20 minutes. People with narcolepsy also may familiarize themselves with cataplexy (loss of muscle control during emotional situations), hallucinations, temporary paralysis when they awaken, and disrupted night-time sleep. The symptoms of narcolepsy are usually present during adolescence, although it often takes years to have a correct diagnosis. Once