What are the dangers of insufficient sleep for teenagers?

Sleeping is not only a kind of enjoyment for people, but also a basic physiological and psychological need. Teenagers are in the period of growth and development, so they should pay more attention to ensuring their sleep time. They must sleep seven to eight hours a day, otherwise it will affect their daily study and life. These are all clear to everyone and cannot be doubted. However, there are still many dangers that everyone is not very clear about. Let me explain them to you one by one now.

Teenagers who lack sleep often have trouble concentrating when studying, their minds easily wander, and they are more likely to get sick. Insufficient sleep or rest can also affect the physical development of adolescents, because many of their hormones are secreted during sleep. In addition, it can also affect the development of children's cognitive abilities.

Lack of sleep is harmful

As people's pace of life generally accelerates, lack of sleep has become a common phenomenon among today's urbanites. Experts remind that lack of sleep is very harmful to health, so don't wait to take it seriously. The harm of insufficient sleep is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Influencing the brain's creative thinking

Researchers once divided 24 college students into two groups and asked them to take a test. The two groups got the same test scores. Then, one group of students was asked to stay awake overnight, while the other group slept normally, and then they took the test. The results showed that the test scores of students in the no sleep group were significantly lower than those of students in the normal sleep group. Therefore, researchers believe that if the human brain is to think clearly and react quickly, it must have sufficient sleep. If there is a lack of sleep for a long time, the brain will not get enough rest, which will affect the brain's creative thinking and ability to handle things.

2. Affects the growth and development of adolescents

Modern research shows that the growth and development of adolescents is related to the secretion of growth hormone in addition to factors such as genetics, nutrition, and exercise. Growth hormone is a hormone secreted by the hypothalamus that promotes the development of bones, muscles, and internal organs. Growth hormone determines the growth rate of the human body, and adolescence is the period of peak growth hormone secretion. Because the secretion of growth hormone is closely related to sleep, that is, there is a large secretion peak after a person falls asleep, followed by several small secretion peaks, while in the non-sleeping state, the secretion of growth hormone decreases. Therefore, if teenagers want to develop well and grow taller, they must get enough sleep.

3. Affects skin health

The reason why human skin is soft, smooth and shiny is that it relies on the capillaries in the subcutaneous tissue to provide sufficient nutrition. Lack of sleep can cause stagnation of skin capillaries and obstructed circulation, making it impossible for skin cells to get adequate nutrition, thus affecting skin metabolism, accelerating skin aging, and making the skin appear dull and pale. Especially the eye circles become dark and wrinkles easily appear.

4. Cause disease

Regular lack of sleep will make people feel anxious and worried, and reduce immunity, which will lead to various diseases such as neurasthenia, colds, gastrointestinal diseases, etc. A Swedish medical researcher found that lack of sleep can also cause an increase in blood cholesterol levels, increasing the chance of heart disease. An Australian research institute suggested that the human body's cell division mostly occurs during sleep. Lack of sleep or sleep disorders will affect the normal division of cells, which may cause cancer cell mutations and lead to the occurrence of cancer. Generally speaking, people of different ages need 8-9 hours of sleep a day. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep a day.

If you want to have a good sleep, you cannot ignore the work before going to bed. You must go to bed on time every day and get up on time. Don’t watch TV or read in bed. The bed is for sleeping. You can do more physical activities during the day so that you will sleep better at night. Don't eat before going to bed, as it will burden your stomach and intestines and prevent you from sleeping well. It’s also good to drink a glass of hot milk before going to bed.