Every student has sacrificed sleep at least once in their life, whether it was to study or to finish an assignment. The great importance of a good night’s rest is often forgotten, with the rush of last minute revision being preferred over sleeping longer. Nevertheless, sleep is the key to good health. But why is it so important?
“Studies have shown that memory is strengthened 30% more at night than during the day.”
When sleeping, the body is restored and important biochemical changes occur. Among these processes is the consolidation of long-term memory. Our brain eliminates non-essential information, while interactions between the hippocampus and the frontal cortex allows it to maintain the important information. Studies have shown that memory is strengthened 30% more at night than during the day.
This clean-up is not only of memories but also of toxins and metabolic waste. Neurons reduce their size so the interstitial liquid that lies between cells can move in and remove those waste products. This cleansing removes the build-up of harmful proteins, preventing the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
What is more, sleep helps the body to grow and develop. While sleeping, hormones in charge of regenerating our cells and tissues are segregated. This also contributes to maintaining balanced hormones, such as glucose, and reinforcing the immune system, as muscle relaxation frees up energy to perform these types of tasks.
Thanks to this care and reset, the body can work properly and follow the normal homeostatic (self-balancing) pathways. Clearly, sacrificing those hours of sleep could end up with very severe consequences.
What are the effects of sleep deprivation?
From a psychological point of view, the effects of poor sleep are numerous: mood changes, irritability, impatience, and anxiety all arise from a lack of proper rest. Sleep renews our mind, making us forget memories that bring us nothing, thus helping us to manage our emotions.
Importantly for students, sleep deprivation significantly affects cognitive processes, such as receiving, processing, and storing information. Sleep consolidates important information, strengthening memories in the frontal cortex. Lack of sleep makes it difficult for this process to take place properly, making it difficult for long-term concentration, decision-making, attention, and therefore learning.
From a physiological point of view, sleep deprivation has negative consequences for our health. Various studies carried out by Dr Javier Albares, a specialist in sleep medicine, point out that poor rest increases the probability of having injuries. This is due to increased lactate generation, poor oxygenation and loss of motor memory, making it easier to be distracted and reducing coordination.
Furthermore, sleep regulates important appetite hormones. Ghrelin is in charge of increasing appetite and leptin inhibits it. Sleep deprivation causes ghrelin levels to rise and leptin to decrease, in turn leading to a feeling of constant appetite, which can result in unconscious weight gain.
Studies have shown that sleep deprivation facilitates infection. This is because lack of sleep impedes the proper activity of the immune system, making both innate and adaptive immunity interaction fail. According to Dr Marian Rojas Estapé, people who sleep six hours are four times more likely to get sick than those who sleep eight hours.
“This cortisol intoxication leads to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, sadness, multiple cardiovascular diseases, brain diseases and much more.”
Chronic sleep deprivation results in a state of constant alarm, facilitated by extremely high levels of the hormone cortisol. This cortisol intoxication leads to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, sadness, multiple cardiovascular diseases, brain diseases, and much more.
How to improve sleep habits?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is recommended to sleep 8 hours. But it is also important to get these hours of sleep while respecting the body’s circadian rhythms. The sleep cycle is regulated by the hormone melatonin, with high levels of melatonin inducing sleep and at the onset of sleep these levels begin to decrease until it is time to wake up, activating the brain. The secretion of this hormone also depends on external stimuli, such as light and temperature. Several studies conducted over the last few decades point to the negative effects of using screens before bedtime. Mobile devices emit blue light, delaying the feeling of drowsiness and making it more difficult to fall asleep by inhibiting the production of melatonin.
In addition, it is important to respect the timings of melatonin levels. Staying awake with high melatonin levels causes strong disturbances in the body, impairing rest and physiological coordination.
As students, our sleep schedules are getting worse and worse, but it’s not too late to improve these habits. The Division of Sleep Medicine, a Harvard based group of sleep experts, presents some techniques and strategies to improve sleep. The main recommendation is to “maintain a regular sleep-awake schedule”. To make this possible, it is essential to prioritise sleep in our daily routine. Students often tend to sacrifice sleep for other activities, so setting schedules can be a difficult task. However, if you want to get a good night’s rest, you should work to keep a regular schedule.
To get a good night’s sleep, it is also recommended to avoid chemicals such as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine or other stimulants. Needless to say, energy drinks are included in this list, as in the long term, their consumption can lead to insomnia. A recent study by Siri Kaldenbach and other doctors, published in the journal BMJ Open, explains how even low consumption of these drinks is linked to sleep problems.
Finally, the Harvard Institute of Medicine states that the sleep environment should be comfortable and pleasant. As mentioned above, light is a very important factor to take into account. Try to avoid bright lights and the use of screens one hour before sleep. If you need to use them, try to activate the night mode and avoid stimulating elements such as social networks or video games.
“Having a good rest thanks to appropriate habits, such as a good sleep schedule and avoiding the use of mobile devices and stimulant substances is essential to be in good health, both physically and mentally.”
So, while the temptation may be to spend the night cramming, ultimately a good night’s sleep may offer the greater advantage when it comes to exam time. Sleep is the best tool we have for good memorisation and optimal learning. Having a good rest thanks to appropriate habits, such as a good sleep schedule and avoiding the use of mobile devices and stimulant substances, is essential to be in good health, both physically and mentally. Students should bear in mind that sleep hours will have a better effect on academic results than leaving things to the last minute and sacrificing the essential process that is sleep.
