Andy’s Quick Hits (104): Sleep is Critical for Everything

It is said that sleep is by the brain, of the brain, and for the brain. It is the consequence of having something that can do something so complex as what a brain does.

But sleep has been underrated — health advice for decades revolved around firstly food, and secondly exercise. Both important we know, but sleep is the third pillar. Indeed this year there was a position statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine saying that sleep is a biological necessity, and insufficient sleep and untreated sleep disorders are detrimental for health, well-being, and public safety.

And that is more than true — when we look at the processes that take place in sleep and the dramatic impacts on the brain and body it is easy to see why:

• Lack of sleep causes severe mental disruption including hallucinations within 48 hours and can potentially lead to death (but normally doesn’t because the brain finds ways to sleep or shut itself down).
• Just one night of sleep deprivation causes significant cognitive impairment
• One week of sleep deprivation (30% less sleep) causes significant loss of brain communication integrity and also cognitive levels had not returned to normal after 1 week of recovery. Read about it here.
• Virtually all…