Why is sleep needed?

Question

Do you know what causes it (fatal familial insomnia)? and also if a person have that, what makes them lose their ability to sleep? and also, I know sleep is needed to stay alive but what does sleep do? When we sleep, do we recharge our brains? What exactly do we recharge our brains with? chemicals? How come we cannot make the chemicals then we can go on not sleeping until we are 80 years old.

Answer 1

good question. the one answer i do have is that sleeping is a time when your brain re-organizes and recuperates from the days activities. sleep is also important for your body physically. the muscles and so forth need rest from stresses of walking and activity.

sorry, that is as technical as i can get.

Answer 2

Many of the answers to your questions are probably answered in the wikipedia.org article under "fatal familial insomnia". I'll provide a link.

Also, look up "sleep" in wikipedia.org and check out the section "Theories regarding the function of sleep".

I'm not an expert, but I see sleep as a way for the brain to re-organize itself. When you sleep, random information is thrown around in your brain to rapidly re-organize this information. I think this is why dreams seem so random and constantly changing. If you go too long without sleep, your brain is too disorganized to handle anything... which might be partly why people hallucinate when they are sleep deprived.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Although scientists are still trying to learn exactly why people need sleep, animal studies show that sleep is necessary for survival.

Sleep appears necessary for our nervous systems to work properly. Too little sleep leaves us drowsy and unable to concentrate the next day. It also leads to impaired memory and physical performance and reduced ability to carry out math calculations. If sleep deprivation continues, hallucinations and mood swings may develop. Some experts believe sleep gives neurons that are being used while we are awake, a chance to shut down and repair themselves. Without sleep, neurons may become so depleted in energy or so polluted with byproducts of normal cellular activities that they begin to malfunction. Sleep also may give the brain a chance to exercise important neuronal connections that might otherwise deteriorate from lack of activity.

Deep sleep coincides with the release of growth hormone in children and young adults. Many of the body's cells also show increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins during deep sleep. Since proteins are the building blocks needed for cell growth and for repair of damage from factors like stress and ultraviolet rays, deep sleep may truly be "beauty sleep." Activity in parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making processes, and social interactions is drastically reduced during deep sleep, suggesting that this type of sleep may help people maintain optimal emotional and social functioning while they are awake.

There are a lot of causes insomnia, either psychological, like thinking or worrying about lots of things (relationships, illness)which make you loss a lot of sleep. Another factor is your lifestyle: using stimulants like coffee or cigarrettes before sleeping, drinking alcoholic drinks, doing shifting at work or even people that have inactive lifestyles. Another factor can also be environmental like noise in the plane or lights. Some people prefer to sleep without lights so they are disturb if there are lights. Last factor that can worsen insomnia is psychiatric/physical Illness, example, like depression or chronic pain, post traumatic stresses and breathing disorders.

You see, sleeping is very important not just to human beings but also for animals as well. I cannot imagine even if someone can come up with the chemicals to keep us awake until we are 80 years old, I don't think you will reach 80 years old alive and kicking and alert if you have not slept for a day. You will definitely lose your juice and your poise if that's the case, hehe..

Answer 4

I am an insomiac and it is horrible. I am very sensitive to stress in my life, which I have been under for about 3 years. I don't know when was the last time I have slept more than 4 hours straight.

My memory is very poor and I have very low energy.

I am very sensitive to sleep medications and am afraid of the addictive qualities, so I have stayed away from them. I also stay away from Caffiene. However it's getting to the point in which I may have to use them.

Answer 5

Insomnia (sleeplessness) is due to stress, dietary and medical
problems. By making small lifestyle changes like having a fixed
daily routine, relaxing and eating properly, insomnia can be
cured. I found the information at http://tinyurl.com/jfzpz useful
for getting sleep.

Answer 6

with out sleep your body will start to shut down and make you lose your ability to do whats it's supposed to do

Answer 7

you need sleep, so your body cells can regenerate themselves

Answer 8

"Hello Shy Guy,
Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Yet millions of people do not get enough sleep and many suffer from lack of sleep. For example, surveys conducted by the NSF (1999-2004) reveal that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more. Most of those with these problems go undiagnosed and untreated. In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month - with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more. Furthermore, 69 percent of children experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.

According to psychologist and sleep expert David F. Dinges, Ph.D., of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, irritability, moodiness and disinhibition are some of the first signs a person experiences from lack of sleep. If a sleep-deprived person doesn’t sleep after the initial signs, said Dinges, the person may then start to experience apathy, slowed speech and flattened emotional responses, impaired memory and an inability to be novel or multitask. As a person gets to the point of falling asleep, he or she will fall into micro sleeps(5-10 seconds) that cause lapses in attention, nod off while doing an activity like driving or reading and then finally experience hypnagogic hallucinations, the beginning of REM sleep. (Dinges, Sleep, Sleepiness and Performance, 1991)

Everyone’s individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)

Everyone’s individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)

Everyone’s individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)

What causes sleep problems?

Psychologists and other scientists who study the causes of sleep disorders have shown that such problems can directly or indirectly be tied to abnormalities in the following systems:

Physiological systems

Brain and nervous system
Cardiovascular system
Metabolic functions
Immune system
Furthermore, unhealthy conditions, disorders and diseases can also cause sleep problems, including:

Pathological sleepiness, insomnia and accidents
Hypertension and elevated cardiovascular risks (MI, stroke)
Emotional disorders (depression, bipolar disorder)
Obesity; metabolic syndrome and diabetes
Alcohol and drug abuse
(Dinges, 2004)