Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the effects of acute total sleep deprivation and chronic partial sleep restriction. Complete absence of sleep over long periods is impossible for humans to achieve (unless they suffer from fatal familial insomnia); brief microsleeps cannot be avoided. Long-term total sleep deprivation has caused death in lab animals.
Read more about Sleep Deprivation: Physiological Effects, Sleep Apnea, Mental Illness, School, Counteracting The Effects of Sleep Deprivation, Longest Period Without Sleep, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words sleep and/or deprivation:
““You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, which seemed to be talking in its sleep, “that ‘I breath when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“A mother wants all of life to be painless for her child. This is not a realistic goal, however. Deprivation and frustration are as much a part of life as gratification. It is some balance between these that a mother is looking for. To take the next step is always painful in part. It means relinquishing gratification on some level. If one is totally gratified where one is, why move ahead? If one is totally frustrated, why bother?”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)