ISSN 1757-8515
The Critical Importance of Sleep
Michael Leach
Cite this article as: BJMP 2020;14(2):a010
|
Sleep
is critical
to human life.
Wakefulness is harmful;
slumber is medicinal.
If one aged over 17 years
gets less than the advised
minimum of 7 hours
of sleep per night,
then one compromises
cognitive function
and runs rising risks
of life-threatening conditions:
dementias
cancers
cardiovascular diseases
physical injuries
and more.
Sleep differs to food—
it can’t be stored up for lean times
or compensated for later.
Every moment
of lost sleep is irreparably harmful.
Every time
society saves or dissaves
one hour
of melatonin-suppressing daylight,
the risks of cardiovascular diseases such as MI rises.
In the revised words
of John Bongiovi Jr:
sleep deprived while I’m alive
& less time till I’m dead.
Sleep-deprived clinicians
stay awake
caring for patients
whose sleep deprivation
has contributed to critical conditions.
Experts urge everyone
to carefully consider
whether they need more sleep
in their life.
Sleep on it.
|
Acknowledgements N/A Competing Interests None declared Author Details MICHAEL LEACH, BPharm GradCertSc(Appl Stat) MBiostat PhD CHIA, Senior Lecturer (Education and Research), School of Rural Health, Monash University, PO Box 666, Bendigo, Victoria 3552, Australia. CORRESPONDENCE: MICHAEL LEACH, School of Rural Health, Monash University, PO Box 666, Bendigo, Victoria 3552, Australia. Email: michael.leach@monash.edu |
The above article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
