Lack of good sleep causes problems.  Sleep allows the body to repair and is critical to good health. 

Sleep loss in America has reached epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, many of us are unaware of the negative impact sleep problems can have on our health and performance. It is a basic biological drive. 

How much sleep do we need?
Our sleep needs change at different stages in our lives.  While it varies from individual to individual, the following are the average amounts of sleep a person needs to allow them to function well during the day:

The amount of sleep you get is extremely important. But the type of sleep you get also determines how well-rested you'll be when you awake. If you're feeling drowsy during the day, you may not have gotten enough quality sleep.  Healthy sleep is characterized by a specific sequence of stages or sleep cycle. If the sequence is interrupted the quality of our sleep suffers.

Why do we need sleep?
Why we sleep is still one of the world's great unanswered questions.  Ongoing research is just beginning to shed some light on the subject and scientists are formulating some promising explanations.  They hypothesize that sleep helps the body restore and rejuvenate in many different ways by:

• Replenishing the energy stores that we use up while awake
• Allowing us to process, consolidate and retain new memories and skills
• Contributing to the formation of new nerve cells in the brain and exercising important neuronal connections that might otherwise deteriorate due to lack of activity
• Increasing the amount of growth hormone that is secreted (vital for children but also important for rebuilding tissue in adults)
• Boosting the immune response
• Reducing damage caused by oxidative stress
• Promoting optimal performance of the part of the brain that controls emotions, decision-making and social interactions

Just as the theories behind why we sleep are still being researched so too are the consequences of sleep deprivation.  We do know that when we are sleep deprived over long periods, our health suffers.  It's difficult for scientists to separate the effects of lost sleep from those of stress or other factors, but several studies point to a multitude of potential problems.

Too little sleep can:

• Hinder our ability to perform daily activities, making even simple tasks difficult
• Increase stress and affect our mood
• Impair memory
• Increase the number of mistakes we make, including fatal ones like car accidents
• Increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism. The link between quality/restful sleep and weight loss is not yet clear.  It makes sense, but it has not been proven in a substantial way.
• Contribute to diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes
• Make it harder to fight off infections
• Cause symptoms that mimic some of the hallmarks of aging such as blood levels with higher amounts of cortisol
• Cause digestive problems such as constipation, diarrhea, excessive gas, abdominal pain, and heartburn
• Affect quality of life and level of satisfaction.

Bottom line – sleep needs to be a priority in your life, along with a healthy diet and regular exercise.