Circadian rhythm

New Hours of Service regulations (HOS) rules are an effort to prevent accidents caused by driver fatigue. Regulations are put into effect to ensure that drivers take at least a 45 minutes break after driving 4.5 hours, and limiting maximum driving time in one week to 56 hours. Working conditions for truck drivers leads to an array of health risks to the driver and, more importantly, safety risks to the public. Data and statistics indicate that between 2004 and 2009 there was a 33% decrease in…

Sleep Health is one of the important components of Healthy People 2020 mission to improve American health. In today society, many individuals do not receive the recommend 7-9 hours of sleep or treatment of sleep disorders necessary to maintain a healthy immune system, recharge their body, and sustain memory and alertness throughout the day among other benefits. With our daily busy schedules, many feel that there is simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done and a full nights…

Insomnia is a disorder due to which you wake all late till night like an owl even when you want sleep like a rodent in its hibernation. What I mean is after a hectic day you want your body to take rest, your eyes are sleepy but your mind is active. You would be lying for hours with eyes closed believing that some way you will fall asleep but that doesn’t happen instead your brain has planned a lot of things by then. This makes you grumpy all through the next day and if this becomes a habit, it…

Another negative aspect of texting is the sleep deprivation it can cause. Research “shows that a good night's sleep is fundamental to everything from academic ability and behavior to memory, concentration, sporting prowess, decision-making, creativity and mental health” (Frankel 2010). A good night’s rest is extremely important for a teenager or young adult’s growth. Because they are texting all night, teenagers are neglecting homework and sleep as well. This results in the teenager struggling…

The city council is considering placing a curfew that would make it illegal for teenagers to be on the streets after 10pm on weekdays and after midnight on weekends. This curfew should be set in place. Keeping teens of the streets after 10pm would make it more likely that they would get to bed at a decent time and be well rested for school the next day. On weekends keeping teens off the streets past midnight would help keep them safe from harm such as drunk drivers leaving bars. Placing these…

A nap a day helps keep the doctor away! New research shows that a nap during the day can make us sharper, healthier and even happier. Americans have been brainwashed. Our society looks down on naps. We regard time as money and see napping as wasteful and self-indulgent or as a sign of a mental or physical defect. Most nappers are not lazy, ailing or senile. Three-fourths of people who nap do so because of shift-work jobs, study schedules, or babies allow them too little regular sleep. Most…

Sleep has been the subject of speculation and thought since the time of the early Greek philosophers, but only recently have researchers discovered ways to study sleep in a systematic and objective way. The advent of new technology such as the electroencephalograph (EEG) has allowed scientists to look at and measure electrical patterns and activity produced by the sleeping brain. While we can now investigate sleep and related phenomena, not all researchers agree on exactly why we sleep. A number…

In the informative and allusive essay written by Paul Bogard, he informs the audience as to why humans are headed for trouble when we receive little darkness. Little darkness according to Bogard can affect our health. He uses evidence and reasoning to explain why natural darkness should be preserved. In the third paragraph of the essay, Bogard informs the audience that little darkness can cause health issues. According to the World Health Organization, "Our bodies needs darkness to produce the…

Most people have experienced feeling out of sync when traveling. This off-kilter sensation is attributed to the individual’s internal clock not coinciding with the real time of their new environment, thereby interfering with proper wake and sleep cycles. A person’s internal time piece is extremely miniscule, the “size of a grain of rice” and resides near the merging point of the optic nerves. Light taken in through the eyes signals the release of diverse hormones, which in turn coordinates…

Do you think that of sleep as a key essential to leading a long healthy life? Getting enough sleep is crucial in order for our body to function well and properly. Eight or more hours of sleep is needed in order for our body to feel replenished and healthy. For many, sleeping is not something that needs to be dwelled over, but for some, it is something like a task that they must convince their brain to do. Insomnia is a disorder that causes an individual problems with sleeping or staying asleep.…