Remember those naps you used to take in elementary school? Well as we grow up we tend to miss them and wish we had taken advantage of them. Sleep is something we need whether it’s after a long day of work, school, or just another normal day. There comes a time where the body just shuts down, your eyes become drowsy, and you feel like you are out of energy. Even after countless decades of studying the reason why we sleep, scientists still don't know the exact reason. There are many theories and reports as to what happens when we do not sleep, but there is no study that exactly shows why we sleep.
Sleep is as crucial as breathing and eating. People can run on 8 hours of sleep or even 3 hours; no matter the hours, each person sleeps, we all need it. There are 5 stages of sleep. The first and second stage is when the body first falls asleep, but not yet in a deep sleep. The third and fourth stage is where you are relaxed in a deep sleep and your heart and breathing rate slow down . The fifth stage is where you begin to have rapid eye movement or R.E.M.. During this stage your brain is very active and you can experience dreams. The body goes through a full cycle from stages 1-5 and then returns to stages 3 and 2 as we sleep. No matter how much sleep each person gets, we all go through the full sleep cycle.
As the day gets longer, our body becomes tired and we need to rest. It is very unhealthy to be up 24/7 and not have a day of rest. The longest sleep record ever recorded was for 11 days without sleep, but even at that he slept afterwards. We can not fight and resist being tired, forcing our eyes shut. The most common theory as to why we sleep and why we need it is because it replenishes the body.
We feel better after a good nights rest and if we don’t, we are tired the next day and can’t function properly. Quoting the BBC: “Sleep ramps up the production of cells that go on to make an insulating material known as myelin which protects our brain's circuitry.” Even though doctor’s don’t know what exactly gets replenished, we just know that we feel better when we sleep. There is also another theory where it helps with memory aid. Even scholars who study for hours for finals or just a test, need to sleep or at least take a nap. As we sleep it is said that “sleep helps us to process and consolidate new memories.” (BBC news) There was a test done where they had remember certain sequences and some went to sleep and some didn’t. Sure enough those who woke up from a good night’s rest remembered the sequence, while the ones who stayed awake for a full day didn’t remember as much.
Sleep does not only affect our production, but it also affects our immune system. Sleep does depend on the person, but too much or little can become a problem. When we get sick, our immune system knows when to protect us from flus, colds, and other infections we may get in our body, but if it does not do its job, we are then sick for a longer period. “The immune system is pretty complex. It is made up of several types of cells and proteins that are charged with keeping foreign invaders such as colds or flu at bay.” If we do not get enough sleep, our T cells, white blood cells, decrease and increase the chances of getting a flu or cold.
Sleep and the immune system work together by allowing us to fight off the infection. We get fevers because our body tries to fight off the infection in us and so we are allowed to sleep off the infection.
Even though there are many theories, there is no exact reason as to why we sleep or why we need it. After we sleep, our body feels replenished and we feel more alert. We can’t fight it if we are tired, so next time you are busy after a long day, go to sleep and think of how good your body will feel when you wake up.
Sleeping Beauty