Studies have shown that human beings spend a third of their life sleeping.
This points out to sleep being a basic need, and essential one for good health and good performance during the day .
However the absence of adequate sleep will lead to various challenges including developing memory loses and forgetfulness .
According to a study by University of California, Berkely, poor quality sleep among the elders may cause memory loss and brain deterioration.
When sleeping, the brain produces important wave that play a role in the storing of memory.
These waves transmit memories to the hippocampus and then to the prefrontal cortex where long term memories are stored for further use .
Hence when one lacks quality sleep, the memories stick at the hippocampus which in turn lead to forgetfulness and memory lose.
Matthew Walker, a researcher at the University of California says that as people progress in age, the quality of sleep deteriorates and therefore prevents memories from being stored at night .
“As we get older the quality of our sleep deteriorates and prevent those memories from being saved by the brain at night”
Matthew Walker
“As we get older, the quality of our sleep deteriorates and prevent those memories from being saved by the brain at night,” he said.
Sleep is necessary to consolidate a memory so that it can be recalled for further use .
Effects of lack of sleep
Lack of sleep therefore has various effects either physically or even mentally, some of which include; fatigue, poor performance and lack of attention.
Lack of sleep impairs one’s ability to think and increases the rate of forgetfulness and also reduces ones ability to handle stress.
Insufficient sleep also interferes with one’s moods in the days activities and also their ability to make right judgement.
Without enough restful sleep, the hormone level increases which lead to inflammation. This narrows the blood vessels and therefore leads to high blood pressure.
Therefore adequate amount of sleep can help reduce the the increase of one’s blood pressure.
Apart from high blood pressure, people deprived of sleep are likely to have diabetes and even develop sleeping disorders like insomnia.
To have good sleeping habits, one can establish a regular bedtime and keep to it, getting plenty of exercise and ensuring that you don’t go to bed on an empty stomach .
