Write an article based on this "Perform a simple sleep test. Pay back your short-term sleep debt. Take a vacation for long-term debt. Prevent health problems by getting the amount of sleep you need. Recognize situations that change your sleep needs. Identify your sleep needs by age."
It may take more than one night to determine the results of this test. The next opportunity that you have to "sleep in" for a few days is your chance to perform this test. You may need several nights in a row to get the best results. Step one of the test is to go to bed at a reasonable time. If you are looking for a time when you can sleep in, then that probably means it's a week-end or a series of days that you have off from your work or school. For the test to work, you have to resist staying up later than normal since you can "sleep in" the next day. Get accurate results from the test by sticking with a routine bedtime each night. Next, do not set an alarm clock. Sleep until you wake up naturally. If you are like most people, you will probably sleep a long time that first night, maybe even 16 hours or more. This is because you are in a situation called sleep debt. If you have a serious sleep debt, then you may have to deal with that before you can get the best results from this test. If your sleep debt is not substantial, then proceed with the test. After the first night of longer than average sleep, continue with the same bedtime, and avoid setting an alarm. After a few days you will wake up at about the same time every day naturally. Now you know how many hours of sleep your body needs every night. If you have gotten enough sleep, you should be alert and capable of doing monotonous activities without becoming sleepy. Sleep debt occurs when you fail to get the amount of sleep your body needs, and it actually accumulates over time. You are borrowing minutes or hours every time you cut your night's sleep a little short. This can occur in both the short term and over months. Staying up late for work, play, or study, then getting up with an alarm clock because you have to, is a set-up for adding to your sleep debt. Repay your short-term sleep debt by adding an hour or so to each night's sleep, and take advantage of opportunities to sleep in or take a nap until you have paid back the amount of sleep you lost over a short-term. This means that you need to keep track of the hours of sleep you lost, therefore you need to know how much sleep you need. Longer term sleep debt accumulations may take several weeks, or even longer to pay back and get back on track. Take a vacation with nothing on your schedule, then go to bed at the same time every night and sleep every morning until you wake up naturally. Don't beat yourself up for sleeping a lot during this vacation. Just pay back your sleep debt and get back on a regular schedule. Once you have repaid your debt and you stick to a regular bedtime, you will reach a point where you no longer need that alarm clock in the mornings. This is provided that your bedtime is early enough to allow your body to get the exact amount of sleep it requires. If you go to bed "early" for you, but you still are tired and have trouble waking up in the mornings, then try an even earlier bedtime. Not everyone fits in the realm of the number of hours considered normal. You may need to naturally sleep a little more. If earlier bedtimes do not help, then talk to your doctor. If you have worked at paying back your sleep debt and you still feel overly fatigued and exhausted during the day, then you may have an underlying medical problem or medication that is contributing to the problem. Make an appointment with your doctor to evaluate your persistent tired and fatigued feeling. Understanding more about the symptoms associated with sleep debt is a great way to realize what happens when you deny your body the sleep it needs. A research study done by the University of Chicago followed a group of volunteers for six days that were only allowed to sleep four hours each night. After only six days of accumulating a sleep debt, the people in the study experienced high blood pressure, increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, made only half the normal amount of antibodies to a flu vaccine, and developed early signs of insulin resistance, which is the first step in developing type 2 diabetes. Other symptoms observed in people with short-term sleep loss include difficulty concentrating, slower decision making, worsened vision, difficult driving, irritability, fatigue, and problems with memory. Researchers have also evaluated the symptoms developed in people that go for longer periods of time without getting enough sleep. These symptoms include obesity, insulin resistance, stroke, memory loss, and heart disease. Sometimes stress and physical changes can trigger the need for more sleep. Pregnancy is an example of a physical change that triggers an increased need for sleep, at least during the first trimester. Other situations that may cause your body to need additional sleep include illness, injury, intense physical exertion, difficult emotional situations, and intense mental tasks. Allow yourself a nap or a little extra sleep time at night to compensate for these stressors. Many professional resources publish charts that provide guidelines for the general sleep requirements divided into age groups. As we get older, the number of hours of sleep we need each night lessen. The extreme ranges include newborns that sleep anywhere from 11 to 19 hours each 24 hours period, with 14 to 17 hours considered the average range, to adults over age 65 that sleep from five to nine hours each night, with the average being seven to eight hours. Several credible sites, including the National Sleep Foundation, provide recommended sleep guidelines divided into age groups. The charts include recommended number of hours, appropriate hours, and provide ranges outside of the number of hours indicated to fall in a category of "not recommended." Realize that every person is unique and has additional factors that may cause him or her to fall outside the recommended ranges without labeling it as abnormal. For example, some people may be on medications or have underlying diseases that cause them to sleep more than the guidelines suggest.