Informative Sleep free essay sample

To inform the audience about what sleep is and how it helps the body. Central Idea: That sleep is good for you and you should get your eight hours of it! Introduction: I’m sure everyone likes sleep. Everyone needs sleep to keep the least bit active through out there day. Sleep is an important factor for your body to restore energy. Sleeping is a time to rest your body from all the hard work you have done. It is relaxing so deeply that you lose consciousness of your surroundings. Preview Statement: Today I’d like to discuss and inform the audience about sleep. The first thing I want to tell you about is what sleep really is. The next thing I will explain is how sleep helps your body. Finally, I will talk about different sleeping disorders people are living with. I. By definition, medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com states that sleep is a natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body, in which the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially lost, so that there is a decrease in bodily movement and responsiveness to external stimuli. a. This site also mentioned that during sleep the brain in humans and other mammals undergo a characteristic cycle of brain-wave activity that includes intervals of dreaming. These intervals of dreaming can be divided into two categories. i. NREM sleep and REM sleep. There are five stages of sleep. 1. The first four stages of sleep are NREM sleep. NREM sleep is the non-rapid eye movement sleep; during the first stage of this type of sleep, you are in a battle of going to sleep but staying awake. In like the fourth stage, you really notice how NREM sleep is. NREM is the deep, dreamless period of sleep during which the brain waves are slow and of high voltage, and autonomic activities, such as heart rate and blood pressure, are low and regular. REM sleep is the fifth stage or the last stage and is exactly opposite of NREM. This type of sleep is associated with dreaming, mild involuntary muscle jerks, and rapid eye movements. It usually occurs three to four times each night at intervals of 80 to 120 minutes, each occurrence lasting from 5 minutes to more than an hour. b. Most people tend to want to go to sleep when they are bored for example i. Reading a 1462 history book or listening for hours to a mono-tone old man talk about how he and his dog are best friends. ii. Or they tend to go to sleep when they’re real worn out or haven’t had enough sleep. Transition: Now that you sort of understand why, when and what sleeping actually is, I can now explain How sleeping effects your body and how it helps it in a good way! II. There are so many things in sleeping that are beneficial to the body. When someone tells you that you should get your 8 hours of sleep, don’t be stubborn and get your 8 hours of sleep!! About. com lists a few of these things. a. One thing that it mentions is how a good nights sleep makes you feel energized and alert the next day. i. Being engaged and active not only feels great, it increases your chances for another good nights sleep. . Another thing that it mentions is that sleep helps your memory. A process called memory consolidation occurs during sleep. While your body may be resting, your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between events, sensory input, feelings and memories. ii. Getting more sleep will help you remember and process things better. c. A third thing is that sleep may help you loose weight. i. Researchers have found that people who sleep less than seven hours per night have impact on the balance of hormones in the body that affect appetite and are more likely to be overweight or obese. So if you are interested in controlling or losing weight, dont forget to pay attention to getting a good nights sleep! d. This site also listed that napping during the day is not only an effective and refreshing alternative to caffeine, it can also protect your health and make you more productive. i. A study of 24,000 Greek adults showed that people who napped several times a week had a lower risk for dying from heart disease. ii. Napping also improves memory and mood. The last thing on the list is how sleep helps the body make repairs to damages caused by different things like stress, ultraviolet rays and other harmful exposures. . Your cells produce more protein while you are sleeping. These protein molecules form the building blocks for cells, allowing them to repair damage. 1. This is why you see the really sick people sleep a lot, because it helps them repair their bodies and helps them built up a strong immune system. ii. On serendip. brynmawr. edu, they talk about how sleep deprivation weakens the immune system, preventing the body from being able to ward off infections and viruses. They also mention signs of sleep deprivation which include B. reduced energy, like in work performance C. reater difficulty concentrating, for example if your studying for a test, staying up all night is not going to help you the next day because that information, instead of being stored in temporary memory, it can be stored in long-term memory D. The way your moods change frequently E. And greater risks of accidents including fall-asleep car crashes. 2. So if you don’t have a good nights sleep, sleep deprivation can happen. Transition: All of these things mentioned, sometimes get so bad that if you don’t get a good nights rest, they end up leading into a sleeping disorder. III. Last of all I will be naming and explaining a couple of these disorders associating with sleep. a. According to dictionary. com, anything dealing with a disturbance of the normal sleep pattern is considered a sleeping disorder. b. Many of us have experienced different things that may have got you thinking if you are dealing with a sleeping disorder. I will now ask you some questions that Helpguide. org provided me with that can help you decide if you might have a sleeping disorder. i. Do you feel irritable or sleepy during the day? ii. Do you have difficulty staying awake when sitting still, watching television or reading? iii. Do you fall asleep or feel very tired while driving? iv. Do you often get told by others that you look tired? v. Do you react slowly? Do you require caffeinated beverages to keep yourself going? c. If you answer yes to any of the questions I asked, you might have a sleeping disorder. d. One of the most common types of sleeping disorder we hear of is Insomnia. i. Insomnia is when you have difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep. 1. Waking up frequently during the night is one symptom of insomnia. 2. Other common symptoms include when you need to take something (like sleeping pills, nightcap, and supplements) in order to get to sleep 3. And when you have sleepiness and low energy during the day. 4. Many people have this for many different cases and luckily you can cure this with out the help of sleep specialists and without any prescriptions. Just a couple life style changes for example, relaxing more instead of stressing can cure this. e. Another common sleeping disorder is Sleep Apnea, i. In which your breathing temporarily stops during sleep due to blockage of the upper airways. Helpguide. org mentions that this is a serious and potentially life-threatening disorder. ii. Symptoms of Sleep Apnea include: . Loud, chronic snoring 2. Frequent pauses in breathing during sleep. 3. Gasping, snorting, or choking during sleep. Feeling unrefreshed after waking and sleepy during the day, no matter how much time you spent in bed; 5. Waking up with shortness of breath, chest pains, headaches, nasal congestion, or a dry throat. 6. Losing weight, elevating the head of the bed, and sleeping on your side are some ways that can help for mild sleep apnea. f. Final disorder I’ll mention is Narcolepsy. i. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that involves a lot of uncontrollable random sleeping. i. It is a neurological disorder caused by a dysfunction of the brain mechanism that controls sleeping and waking. While in the middle of talking, working, or even driving, people with narcolepsy usually have â€Å"sleep attacks†. iii. Some common symptoms that I find scary are, 1. Seeing or hearing things when you’re drowsy (like hallucinating) or starting to dream before you’re even fully asleep. 2. Another symptom is when you’re suddenly feeling week or when you feel like you have no muscle control during a strong emotion like when you’re angry or laughing. 3. When you’re feeling paralyzed and unable to move when you’re waking up or dozing off is another symptom. Some disorders can be worse than this and involve getting checked by a sleeping specialist and some can be cured on your own. Transition: Besides all of these sleeping disorders IV. Everyone has problems sleeping at time to time, so here are some tips provided by pamf. org that may help you get a good night’s sleep. a. Try to eliminate caffeine or foods that have caffeine. b. Avoid exercising after dinner. c. Wear comfortable clothes or pajamas to bed. Make sure your room is not too hot or too cold. . Avoid stimulating TV, music or computer time before bed. f. Use meditation or relaxation techniques. g. Or even try counting sheep! Conclusion: In conclusion, I hope you haven’t fallen asleep through my presentation because if you did, you missed out on what sleeping really is and the stages we have to go through, how sleeping helps your body and why you should get your 8 hours, and finally some different sleeping disorders and how to get a good night’s sleep. Now if you did fall asleep during my presentation, just blame it on a sleeping disorder and then I won’t be mad at you!