The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Health and Cognitive Function

Academic Paper from the year 2024 in the subject Biology - Diseases, Health, Nutrition, University of Cape Coast (School of Medical Sciences), course: Graduate Entry Medicine 399, language: English, abstract: Sleep is a complex phenomenon that is essential for the normal functioning of human beings. Although essential, due to the fast-paced nature of society today, there is the general 'need' for individuals to increase their output and they do so by cutting short their sleep time - this leads to sleep deprivation. As a result, sleep deprivation is becoming an increasing public health concern. This study presents a literature review that seeks to build knowledge on the impact of sleep deprivation on health and cognitive function. It is an examination of the causes through the management of sleep deprivation and it considers the rising concern of sleep deprivation by highlighting the associated health problems that the aforementioned problem presents. Studies suggest that adults and children alike are losing sleep for reasons like prolonged use of electronic devices, huge workloads, shift and school work, jet lag, and some other lifestyle factors. In the case of the elderly, however, the process of aging generally causes disturbances in their sleep pattern which leads to sleep loss. It was noted at the end of this study that there is a strong relationship between chronic sleep loss and many health problems like neurodegenerative disease, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, stroke as well as some mood disorders like anxiety and depression. Conversely, interindividual differences play a significant role in determining the extent of susceptibility of an individual to the effects of sleep deprivation. Management of sleep deprivation is mainly by psychoeducational interventions and in the case of severe sleep disorder, some pharmacological agents are recommended. It is also empirical that further studies be done to assess and or establish preventive and intervention programs geared at the populations that are at risk.