Sleep

Sep 14

Written By Pao A

Ok, let’s be real. How many of us actually get at least seven hours of sleep on a regular basis?
I honestly wish that I could confidently say that I’m one of those people that regularly get a full nights rest, but unfortunately I’m not, yet. This blog post will be a continual reminder for myself, as well as you all reading it, on how important sleep is.

Most of us know that sleep is important, but why? Without diving too deep in all the scientific principles that goes into sleep, I’d like to keep this as simple as possible. In the past, I’ve heard people say that sleep is the equivalent to us charging our batteries. Thats a good way to look at it, in a way. But there is a lot more to sleep than just re-energizing us.

**Sleep helps to improve brain function**

Getting a full nights rest will promote proper brain functioning. While you sleep, your brain forms new neuronal connections to help you learn and retain the information you do know. This means that you’ll be better concentrating, remembering things, and problem solving (just to name a few) after you wake up. This is essential for nearly everyone, especially medical students (like myself)! You’ll be able to recall things quicker, concentrate better, and be more productive as a result from getting a good nights rest.
On the flip side, not getting enough sleep will negatively impact your brain functioning. Although I was able to get away with it (not getting enough sleep) when I was in my early 20s during my undergrad years, it is a much different story attempting to pull an all nighter while in medical school. Medical school, after all, is a much different beast than undergrad or even a masters program. During my first year of medical school, I attempted to pull an all-nighter before a exam. I was able to remember *some* of the stuff that I studied, but my brain felt like it “went blank” on certain concepts that I tried so hard to remember. I also made silly mistakes because I misinterpreted the question wrong or applied the concept in an incorrect way. Although I passed the exam, I know I didn’t give my best effort. Sleep allows you to give your best effort.

**Sleep promotes a healthy emotional well-being**

As stated earlier, sleep promotes proper brain functioning. Not only does it help you with memory, learning, and problem solving, sleep also helps to promote a healthy emotional well-being. This means that sleep can help you control your emotions & behavior, as well as help you cope with various things you may face.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true with sleep deprivation. Being sleep deprived will negatively effect your emotional well-being. In fact, poor sleep has been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking behaviors. This can especially be true for those who have had traumatic events happen in their lives in the past.
Sleep deprived induced depression can also be due to individuals not being to control their emotions, as well as social interactions when they are sleep deprived. I’m sure nearly all of us experienced that (problems with emotions and/or social interaction) at some point in our lives, due to lack of sleep. We’ve either been the person or have been around someone that has been grumpy. People tend to be impatient, easily aggitated, and angry when they are grumpy. Now imagine being like that all the time due to a chronic lack of sleep. It will unfortunately take a toll on your emotional and mental well-being.

**Sleep promotes healthy waste clearance in your brain**

I’m sure this concept about sleep might be new to some of you. There has been a recent discovery of what is now called the **glymphatic system** in your brain. You can think of the glymphatic system simply as a drainage for waste products and a pipeline for distribution of nutrients throughout the brain. Glymphatic system helps to clear the brain from neurotoxins and other waste products that may have accumulated in the brain throughout the day. The unique thing about the glymphatic system is that its “turned off” while you are awake and “turned on” while you are sleeping. This means that most of the waste removal from your brain occurs while you sleep. A full nights rest will allow for adequate clearance of waste from the brain.
Not getting enough sleep, on the other hand, will leave waste products to potentially accumulate in your brain. It is also speculated that chronic sleep deprivation may be linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Sleep is also important for proper bodily functions and healthy weight range. In fact, sleep deprivation can also promote other diseases in our bodies. Instead of focusing on those, in this blog post, I’d like to discuss various strategies on how to get enough sleep each night. Before I dive into them, however, I’d like to share some wonderful sources to learn more about sleep and sleep deprivation:
SleepFoundation.org
Healthline.com
National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health - very detailed information about the glymphatic system.

I’ve referenced these articles a couple of times throughout the post so far. Please feel free to visit them at your leisure.