Sleep is a natural process of mind and body. It is recurrent. During sleep, the consciousness is altered, the sensory activity and all voluntary muscles are inhibited and interactions with surroundings are reduced. This helps to restore immune, endocrine, nervous, skeletal and muscular system function and helps to maintain mood, memory and cognitive function. The brain has most distinct changes during sleep. In quiet waking, the brain is responsible for 20% of the body's energy use, while the brain uses significantly less energy during sleep than it does when awake, especially during non-REM sleep (slow wave sleep). In areas with reduced activity, the brain restores its supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule used for short-term storage and transport of energy. The brain, especially, requires sleep for restoration, while other organs’ restoration can take place during quiescent waking. The sleeping brain has been shown to remove metabolic waste products at a faster rate than during an awake state. Sleep helps facilitate the synthesis of molecules that help repair and protect the brain from these harmful elements generated during waking. Sleep increases the sensory threshold. That is, sleeping persons perceive fewer stimuli, but can generally still respond to strong stimuli, such as loud noises. During slow-wave sleep, the body temperature, heart rate, and brain oxygen consumption decrease.
Sleep deprivation can impair immune function which makes the body reducing the ability to heal. Sleep deprivation tends to cause slower brain waves in the frontal cortex, shortened attention span, higher anxiety, impaired memory, and a grouchy mood. It makes the brain consume more energy causing exhaustion which makes one feeling tired.
Tried acupuncture to help sleep?
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