Sleeping and Insomnia Term Paper

Sleeping and Insomnia

Introduction have been observing my roommate's sleeping patterns. He has insomnia and takes sleeping pills every night, sometimes with alcohol. My hypothesis is that his dependence on sleeping pills and his mixing with alcohol are hindering his condition, rather than helping it. I think that there are many other, more natural things he could do to ease his insomnia.

General understanding of sleeping

We spend about one third of our life sleeping. Sleep is defined as the suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored (ThinkQuest, 2003). The brain is not at rest during sleep as popularly thought, but is extremely active and it is the brain that tells us when it is time to sleep. Sensations of light taken in from the retina are transferred through the nerves to an area of the brain determines the amount of light exposure and adjusts the body accordingly. The exact purpose of sleep remains a mystery, but researchers speculate that during certain stages of sleep, the brain is testing, strengthening, or somehow improving our neurons.

The brain follows cycles of between 90 and 100 minutes each during sleep repeating 4 or 5 times in a course of one night (ThinkQuest). There are two types of sleep: Non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Cycles one, two, three, and four are generally non-REM stages. The stages then quickly reverse and REM sleep, which is the dreaming period, is attained. The cycle then starts over. The proportional amount of sleep we get also changes with age.

During non-REM sleep the heart rate decreases and stabilizes. The breathing pace slows and muscles relax. Blood vessels open wider to allow greater blood flow to the muscles, while the blood pressure drops and the metabolic rate drops about 20%.

Periods of eye movement and muscle twitching occur during REM sleep, hence the name REM (rapid eye movement). The brains temperature increases and tissues swell. There are variations in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate as well.

Why do we need sleep?

It is believed that sleep evolved to protect animals from predators by reducing their activity during times when they are most vulnerable (MSN Encarta, 2003). There are a number of theories as to why we sleep and research has shown sleep to serve specific biological functions.

One idea defines sleep as a restorative function, which task is to balance biological processes that degrade when we are awake (ThinkQuest, 2003). Among the restorative functions is the task to restore our energy lost.

Another possibility may be that of energy conservation. Although our brain activity is very high during sleep, the energy consumed by our body remains low. And because our body temperature is lowered by about 2°C, our metabolic rate drops and our body prepares itself for the coolest period since it last slept.

How much sleep a person needs varies with the individual (ThinkQuest, 2003). Age, health, metabolism, body temperature, and quality of sleep are all factors, although eight hours in one twenty-four hour cycle considered the average amount needed for an adult. The effects of sleep deprivation are impaired judgment, diminished creativity and productivity, inability to concentrate, reduced language and communication skills, slowed reaction times, decreased abilities to learn and remember, and even hallucinations.

Studies in the United States…