by Lisa Frederiksen
I found this article so informative!
We’ve all heard (and for many, time and again) about the importance of 
sleep. But this article takes it a step further (and does it with humor), talking about the stages of sleep and what each does for our brains.
For persons who are recovering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism and for persons who are grappling with a loved one’s drinking, getting enough sleep can make a world of difference for their brain’s health. [Additionally, drinking more than the body and brain can handle gets in the way of a person getting a good night's sleep.] So, to start you out, I’ve cut and pasted the opening of the article, Shhhh…This is Your Brain on Sleep, (which does not list an author but is posted on the website, www.healthycare.in) below:
As we struggle to allot enough time to the job, kids, family, friends, Lost, and Joaquin Phoenix message boards, sleep stands out as a suspiciously long block of idle hours. We set the alarm early, stay up late, and order a tall whatever-we-want to help us get by on the minimum. But the fact is: When you lose sleep, you lose your health.
Experts say most of us need about 8 hours of sleep a night, but half of us don’t get it. And more than 80 percent of working women report exhaustion. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s annual survey, in 2005 U.S. adults got, on average, just 6.9 hours of sleep a night. Now researchers are discovering that a decline in sleep time means a decline in your health. Some examples:
Getting just an hour or two less sleep than needed per night can impair brain function.
Insufficient sleep is associated with cancer, heart disease, obesity, and dia-betes not to mention early death.
It’s also a risk factor for depression, infertility, miscarriage, and postpartum depression.
To top it off, sleeping less to do more doesn’t even work: People who skimp on sleep may be devoting more hours to getting things done, but they work more slowly and accomplish less. “There really isn’t a good substitute for sleep,” says Donna Arand, Ph.D., a psychologist and the clinical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Kettering Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Scientists haven’t yet grasped all the functions of sleep, but they know that sleep is needed every bit as intensely as food or water. It enables our bodies to regulate temperature and fight off infection. It may help our brains retain things we learned the previous day. If you take a peek inside your body and brain during a typical night’s sleep, you’ll find out how it rejuvenates you and why you should care.
Let’s start at the beginning, as your day is winding down….
Click here to read the rest.
