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Jenny Nguyen

Malcolm Campbell

URWT 1103

29 March 2015

Sleep Deprivation and the Deadly Consequences (May want to underline and increase font size)

(Might want to add something about introducing sleep deprivation before stepping into

the next sentence.) Here is a short story about the Joubert family tragedy. In June 2002, a family

of eight driving on the interstate slammed their Chevy Suburban right into an 18-wheel trailer

parked on the side of the road. Six died, including the mother and five of six children. The father,

Israel Lane Joubert, was the one driving the car and survived the car accident along with his sixth

child. They were both critically injured, with their son losing 90% of his liver (Los Angeles

Times). All the children were 14 and under (may want to say ages) . According to Brown Fryer,

in his Harvard Business Review issue, Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer, the family was

driving through the night coming back from a family (reunion?) union, hoping to return to work

by 8 a.m., when the accident occurred. Israel had fallen asleep for (delete possibly) possibly one

(delete exact) exact reason: sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can bring about numerous

consequences that can affect drivers, workers (,) and the general public. Why can it be so

deadly? The answers lie within our brain and body functions while sleep deprived. Lack of sleep

can have detrimental affects on our cognitive performance, which accounts for our actions,

thoughts, mood, and pretty much anything involving what makes us who we are. Our body can

suffer as a result of reduced metabolism, which can strain our cardiovascular system altogether,

resulting in many serious health issues. (Try rewording: Our body can suffer as a result of

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reduced metabolism, which can strain the cardiovascular system altogether. As a result, there can

be many serious health issues.)

Why do we need sleep? What is the real reason behind sleep, other than for survival?

According to Seth Maxon’s (say book, magazine, etc.) How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind

and Body, no one understands the real biological reason behind sleep. There are many theories

surrounding this mystery, but it has never been proclaimed. It could be that our brain shuts down

to store the day’s memories, or it could be a way to regulate our body’s hormones. But for what

it is known (reword: What we do know is that..) , all humans need an average of seven to eight

hours of sleep (Maxon). If (In) fact, the numbers have gone down since the 1960s. In Matt T.

Bianchi’s (say book, magazine, etc.) Sleep Deprivation and Disease: Effects on the body, brain

and Behavior, in the 1960s, Americans slept an average of eight to nine hours. By the 1990s,

numbers declined to an average of seven hours. It can be assumed, that because of our working

society with more stress and longer work hours, the number of sleep-deprived workers have

(has) increased. A resource from the Division of Sleep Medicine (italicize?) at Harvard Medical

School suggests that sleep is important because memory consolidation takes place during this

time, which means your brain stores and process memories and neuron pathways become

stronger. (shorten/split into two sentences) This process is made possible (makes it possible) to

learn and recall new information. The REM stage of sleep, or rapid-eye movement sleep is

essential in acquiring new information, which is also the phase where dreams are more prevalent.

Sleep deprivation interferes with this ability, resulting in extreme exhaustion, which plays (delete

play: add: then results in slow performance) a role with slow performance, lack of focus, and

attention (Harvard). So what can happen when we go without sleep for a long period of time?

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According to Maxon, going without sleep can cause “hallucinations, psychosis, and long-

term memory impairment.” (add in-text citation?) Studies from the University of Pennsylvania

found that going 88 hours without sleep can cause cognitive impairment is otherwise healthy

adults. In 1989, at the University of Chicago, a study on sleep deprivation performed on rats

showed that after several weeks of no sleep, all the rats died. Although there have been debates

whether sleep deprivation can kill you, there are studies that have shown suppression in the

immune system from lack of sleep, which can ultimately attract other forms of illness, resulting

in death. (shorten/split sentence into two) Sleep deprivation also has profound affects (on) our

mood and behavior. In his article, Maxon narrates his own experience with sleep deprivation—

an experiment he had undergone himself—which landed him in the hospital days later with no

recollection. He was eighteen at that time—a relatively healthy young adult—who was on a trip

to Italy with his school, when he stayed up for four days consecutively. He recounts his

experiences with hallucinations, rambling, losing focus, and even sudden shifts of mood and

behavior. His teacher even asked if he was on LSD because he was doing things he would have

never done, such as stealing things from a gift shop. Our brain regulates the flow of epinephrine,

dopamine, and serotonin; chemicals in our brain that are also responsible for mood and behavior.

This could be why lack of sleep is linked to manic feelings, depression (,) and bipolar disorders

(Maxon). Our general feelings of ‘moodiness’ we get from staying up into the night can be

explained from (through) this reason.

Interestingly, sleep deprivation has been used as a torture tactic because of the mental

manipulation capabilities (DELETE) captors (are capable of making their prisoners experience..)

can do on their prisoners. According to Maxon, “sleepiness befogs the reason, undermines the

will, and the human being ceases to be himself, to be his own ‘I’.” [Sleep deprivation is used as a

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torture tactic because it “left no mark,” and can easily “break a prisoner’s will.” Prisoners are

held captive and kept awake for days, which makes them more susceptible to interrogation and

decreases pain tolerance (Maxon).] (MOVE chunk to before “according to Maxom..”)

Fryer (use full name first time using author) explores in his Harvard Business Review (,)

(he) issue(s) four major impacts sleep deprivation has on our cognitive performance. Throughout

the day, everyone has a built (build) up of homeostatic pressure for sleep. This need becomes

stronger depending on how much sleep a person had the night before. Our sleep and wake up

cycles are completely involuntary. (ßcombine two sentencesà)We cannot control when we

sleep or when we wake up, even though most people think they do. (ß Combine sentencesà)

This is especially true when we become extremely drowsy. As discovered by Dr. Clif Saper at

Harvard Medical School, when we become drowsy, it can be a sign that our brain is telling us we

need to sleep soon, or it will seize (cease?) control. When our homeostatic pressure becomes too

great, thousand of neurons in our brain responsible for sleep ignite, which then causes sleep to

seize the brain anywhere at anytime (Fryer). (move to where you first mention homeostatic

pressure a couple sentences above!) This is especially true (use different phrase, already used

this is especially true above: It is accurate…It was found..) with drivers who become drowsy and

falls asleep at the wheel without remembering they did. Specialists also call this “micro sleeps”,

when the brain forces the body to sleep on it’s own (Maxon).

The second major impact on our cognitive perform (ance?) according to Fryer is

determined from the amount of hours you (of) sleep (received) over several days. With eight

complete (unneeded) hours of sleep everyday, we are expected to be stable. With less sleep (than

8 hours), we build up sleep deficit, which results in cognitive impairment. Being awake for over

twenty-four hours is equivalent to legal drunkenness, which can also result in: slurred speech,

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longer reaction time, short and long term memory problems, affects decision making capacity,

math processing, cognitive speed, impedes judgment, and spatial orientation. This is also true

(The definition of legal drunkenness can also be met) when someone cuts back hours of sleep

over a period of days. When a person sleeps an average of five to six hours a night for several

days in a row, these effects magnifies (magnify) (Fryer). Serious lack of sleep can also increases

(increase) temporary lapses in attention, which is when a person experience (experiences)

periods of non-responsiveness lasting a second (Bianchi). According to Maxon’s own

experience, there were days where he completely renounced speech altogether and days where he

only spoke rhyme.

The third impact on our cognitive performance according to Fryer involves our circadian

rhythm. This refers to our internal ‘body clock’ or neurological timing device. (don’t end

sentence here: which, tells our..) This tells our body when it’s ‘dawn’ or ‘midnight’. It sends out

the strongest sleep drive just before we wake up and the strongest wake drive when we are about

to go to sleep. Our homeostatic pressure works together with the circadian rhythm, though they

work in opposition to one another. Most scientists don’t have clear explanations for this

phenomenon, but because we don’t take frequent naps like most animals, it helps us stay awake

and sleep in one long interval. As midafternoon arrives, we usually have the need to sleep or take

a nap, which is why many people turn to caffeine to help them stay awake. Caffeine temporarily

blocks receptors in our brain that regulates sleep. At this time, our homeostatic pressure for sleep

builds up, but our circadian rhythm hasn’t settled in to keep us awake. As it eventually does, we

are able to stay awake through the day. As night falls, melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep

and wake cycles, increases, which then quiets the circadian signal to stay awake, allowing us to

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fall asleep. As our homeostatic pressure goes away, the circadian sends out sleep signals through

the night and increases until morning. As we wake up, melatonin declines (Fryer).

The final impact on cognitive performance from sleep deprivation involves ‘sleep

inertia’, which is the grogginess many people experience when first waking up. During this

period, our brain needs to ‘wake up’, which also means our memory and decision-making isn’t at

its peak during this time. It doesn’t actually reach its peak until a couple hours later. Sleep inertia

is especially dangerous for drivers and workers. Drowsy drivers accounts for a fifth of car

accidents in the United States annually. This is equivalent to 8,000 deaths per year. (citation?)

An estimated 80,000 drivers fall asleep while driving everything, with 10% swerving off the road

and every two minutes, one crashes. (Citation?)Workers are also at risk from sleep deprivation.

Interestingly, many work accidents mentioned on media are a result of tired, sleep-deprived

workers. The oil spill of Exxon Valdez and an incident involving a metro train in New York that

derailed were caused by sleep deprived workers (Maxon). These workers put themselves,

companies and the general public in dangerous situations because most companies don’t enforce

policies on how much sleep a worker needs, but enforces policies on drinking, smoking, etc.

(Fryer). Sleepiness and alcohol intoxication parallels each other more closely than most realize

(Bianchi). (How so?)

Sleep deprivation have (has) been shown to increase weight gain, heart disease, type II

diabetes and high blood pressure. These health problems can cause serious cardiovascular

diseases in the future, which is why sleep deprivation can cause long-term effects (Bianchi).

While we sleep, our body undergoes multiple repairs. According to Maxon, our cells provide

oxygen and glucose as by-products as they undergo cycles of repair when we sleep. So what

happens when we stay up all night? Our brain denies these products, which then hampers our

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organs disrupting our body systems. While we are awake throughout the day, our cells burn off

energy, releasing what scientist call ‘substance S’. Substance S is believed to be adenosine,

which is release as a by-product of these cells into the blood stream. When we sleep, our body

clears our blood stream of this substance, but if we don’t this substance can pile up, clogging our

system (Maxon). (REALLY GREAT DESCRIPTION THAT RELATES TO YOUR POINT! :D)

As mentioned earlier, we have our own circadian ‘body clock’. Carolyn Kylstra, from BuzzFeed

Staff wrote in her article (specify article type?) , 10 Horrible Things Pulling An All-Nighter Does

to Your Brain, our hypothalamus in the brain is in charge of the circadian clock that every cell in

the body has. It makes sure everything functions normally. Throughout the day, we send

different signals to our hypothalamus to activate different hormones to trigger hunger, sleepiness,

etc. Being sleep deprived (Reword: When you are sleep deprived) , these signals mess up, which

causes you to feel hungry late at night, leading to unhealthy snacking (Kylstra). Denise Mann’s

(specify article, book, what?) Sleep and Weight Gain on WebMD, reviewed by Hansa D.

Bhargava, MD, she (delete she) states that while sleep deprived and tired, we are running low on

energy, causing us to turn to unhealthy snacks to wake us up. Without good sleep quality, our

metabolism doesn’t function properly, causing unwanted weight gain and could ultimately lead

to obesity (Mann).

It’s pretty clear; sleep deprivation has numerous effects on every part of the human body.

Sleep is a natural part of our routine that every animals needs to survive. Our cells and our

organs malfunction if we don’t nourish our body with quality sleep. Brain performance goes out

of sync and our body suffers, resulting in cardiovascular and metabolic illnesses. Drowsy drivers

and tired workers put themselves and others at risk because of lack of sleep. Even the

government adopted sleep deprivation as a torture tactic because of how much it impairs the

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brain. All of these (facts) show how sleep deprivation can be so deadly for us. It explains the

reason why many doctors emphasize getting eight hours of sleep is essential to maintain good

health. A majority of the population has experience(d) twenty-four hours or more of no sleep at

one point in their lives. The exhaustion can be very overwhelming.

Jenny, your essay is written very well. Every point you have made ties back to your

overall question and statement of how getting the recommended hours of sleep is important to

maintain human functioning. You went into the facts, cited and myth, of how and why it is

important. You talked about the biology of the brain and body and then how the average human

being shows it. You ended very strong putting in all of your information in just the right places. I

would maybe suggest just that in the beginning you start off a little stronger and not with the

Joubert family story. It is a good story and connects perfectly, but just make sure that you

introduce your idea of sleep deprivation before going into the story! Also just fixed minor little

grammar mistakes or just added suggestions as well. Great job!

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Works Cited

Bianchi, Matt T. Sleep Deprivation and Disease: Effects on the Body, Brain and Behavior. 2014.

Web. 2 Apr. 2015

Fryer, Bronwyn. "Sleep Deficit: the Performance Killer." Harvard Business Review. Harvard

Business School Publishing, Oct. 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2015

Kylstra, Carolyn. "10 Horrible Things Pulling an All-Nighter Does to Your Brain." BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed Staff, June . Web. 2 Apr. 2015.

Mann, Denise. "Sleep and Weight Gain." Coping With Excessive Sleepiness. WebMD, Web. 2

Apr. 2015.

Maxon, Seth. "How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind and Body." The Atlantic. The Atlantic,

30 Dec. 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.

Press, Associated, ed. "6 Killed as SUV Hits Big Rig." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times,

11 June 2002. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.