Sleep Health Essay

The right amount of sleep improves people’s mental and physical health significantly. Although the above benefits about one-third of the population suffer from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is the lack of sleep entirely or for specific periods of time, generally shorter than the optimal time of sleep (GRYGLEWSKA, 2010). Sleep deprivation has several causes that vary among people. Lack of adequate sleep has severe effects on one’s body and leads to poor physical and mental health. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when someone loses their ability to breathe freely while sleeping. Sleep hypoventilation happens when someone has weak muscles which lead to them to breathing actively as thy sleep. Restless legs syndrome occurs when there is an uncomfortable sensation in their legs during the transition of sleep and waking up (Kumar, 2008).

Nightmares and night terrors occur when a person is not fully awake and causes anxiety when someone thinks about going to sleep (Sleep Health Foundation, 2011). Bruxism occurs when a person grinds their teeth as they sleep and causes jaw discomfort (Sleep Health Foundation, 2011). 24 -31 percent of men suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, and 9-12 percent of women suffer from that as well (Center for disease control and prevention, 2011). People get sleep deprivation due to behavioral patterns or illnesses. According to a report by the center of disease control and prevention about 37 percent of people aged 20-39 sleep for short durations, 40 percent of adults aged 40 – 59 years also sleep for small amounts of time and generally 35. 5 percent of adults report to get less than the accepted seven hours of sleep all due to different reasons (Center of disease control and prevention, 2011).