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Dear LEC Reader,
Regular sleep is necessary for survival. Sleep is a dynamic time of healing
and growth for people. For example, during stages 3 and 4, or slow-wave
sleep, growth hormone levels increase, and immune function changes. In
some studies, sleep deprivation led to a decrease in immune function.
The National Sleep Foundation maintains that eight to nine hours of sleep
for adult humans is optimal and that sufficient sleep benefits alertness,
memory and problem solving, and overall health, as well as reducing the
risk of accidents.
A widely publicized 2003 study performed at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine demonstrated that cognitive performance declines with
fewer than eight hours of sleep.
Sleep deprivation can adversely affect brain function. A 2001 Study at
Harvard's Medical Institute suggested that sleep deprivation may be linked
to more serious diseases, such as heart disease.
Several large studies using nationally representative samples suggest
that the obesity epidemic in Europe and the United States might have as
one of its causes a corresponding decrease in the average number of hours
that people are sleeping.
The findings suggests that this might be happening because sleep deprivation
might be disrupting hormones that regulate glucose metabolism and appetite.
The association between sleep deprivation and obesity appears to be strongest
in young and middle-age adults.
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