Nguyen

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Jenny Nguyen
Malcolm Campbell
URWT 1103
29 March 2015
Sleep Deprivation and the Deadly Consequences (May want to underline and increase font size)
(Might want to add something about introducing sleep deprivation before stepping into
the next sentence.) Here is a short story about the Joubert family tragedy. In June 2002, a family
of eight driving on the interstate slammed their Chevy Suburban right into an 18-wheel trailer
parked on the side of the road. Six died, including the mother and five of six children. The father,
Israel Lane Joubert, was the one driving the car and survived the car accident along with his sixth
child. They were both critically injured, with their son losing 90% of his liver (Los Angeles
Times). All the children were 14 and under (may want to say ages) . According to Brown Fryer,
in his Harvard Business Review issue, Sleep Deficit: The Performance Killer, the family was
driving through the night coming back from a family (reunion?) union, hoping to return to work
by 8 a.m., when the accident occurred. Israel had fallen asleep for (delete possibly) possibly one
(delete exact) exact reason: sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can bring about numerous
consequences that can affect drivers, workers (,) and the general public. Why can it be so
deadly? The answers lie within our brain and body functions while sleep deprived. Lack of sleep
can have detrimental affects on our cognitive performance, which accounts for our actions,
thoughts, mood, and pretty much anything involving what makes us who we are. Our body can
suffer as a result of reduced metabolism, which can strain our cardiovascular system altogether,
resulting in many serious health issues. (Try rewording: Our body can suffer as a result of

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reduced metabolism, which can strain the cardiovascular system altogether. As a result, there can
be many serious health issues.)
Why do we need sleep? What is the real reason behind sleep, other than for survival?
According to Seth Maxons (say book, magazine, etc.) How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind
and Body, no one understands the real biological reason behind sleep. There are many theories
surrounding this mystery, but it has never been proclaimed. It could be that our brain shuts down
to store the days memories, or it could be a way to regulate our bodys hormones. But for what
it is known (reword: What we do know is that..) , all humans need an average of seven to eight
hours of sleep (Maxon). If (In) fact, the numbers have gone down since the 1960s. In Matt T.
Bianchis (say book, magazine, etc.) Sleep Deprivation and Disease: Effects on the body, brain
and Behavior, in the 1960s, Americans slept an average of eight to nine hours. By the 1990s,
numbers declined to an average of seven hours. It can be assumed, that because of our working
society with more stress and longer work hours, the number of sleep-deprived workers have
(has) increased. A resource from the Division of Sleep Medicine (italicize?) at Harvard Medical
School suggests that sleep is important because memory consolidation takes place during this
time, which means your brain stores and process memories and neuron pathways become
stronger. (shorten/split into two sentences) This process is made possible (makes it possible) to
learn and recall new information. The REM stage of sleep, or rapid-eye movement sleep is
essential in acquiring new information, which is also the phase where dreams are more prevalent.
Sleep deprivation interferes with this ability, resulting in extreme exhaustion, which plays (delete
play: add: then results in slow performance) a role with slow performance, lack of focus, and
attention (Harvard). So what can happen when we go without sleep for a long period of time?

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According to Maxon, going without sleep can cause hallucinations, psychosis, and longterm memory impairment. (add in-text citation?) Studies from the University of Pennsylvania
found that going 88 hours without sleep can cause cognitive impairment is otherwise healthy
adults. In 1989, at the University of Chicago, a study on sleep deprivation performed on rats
showed that after several weeks of no sleep, all the rats died. Although there have been debates
whether sleep deprivation can kill you, there are studies that have shown suppression in the
immune system from lack of sleep, which can ultimately attract other forms of illness, resulting
in death. (shorten/split sentence into two) Sleep deprivation also has profound affects (on) our
mood and behavior. In his article, Maxon narrates his own experience with sleep deprivation
an experiment he had undergone himselfwhich landed him in the hospital days later with no
recollection. He was eighteen at that timea relatively healthy young adultwho was on a trip
to Italy with his school, when he stayed up for four days consecutively. He recounts his
experiences with hallucinations, rambling, losing focus, and even sudden shifts of mood and
behavior. His teacher even asked if he was on LSD because he was doing things he would have
never done, such as stealing things from a gift shop. Our brain regulates the flow of epinephrine,
dopamine, and serotonin; chemicals in our brain that are also responsible for mood and behavior.
This could be why lack of sleep is linked to manic feelings, depression (,) and bipolar disorders
(Maxon). Our general feelings of moodiness we get from staying up into the night can be
explained from (through) this reason.
Interestingly, sleep deprivation has been used as a torture tactic because of the mental
manipulation capabilities (DELETE) captors (are capable of making their prisoners experience..)
can do on their prisoners. According to Maxon, sleepiness befogs the reason, undermines the
will, and the human being ceases to be himself, to be his own I. [Sleep deprivation is used as a

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torture tactic because it left no mark, and can easily break a prisoners will. Prisoners are
held captive and kept awake for days, which makes them more susceptible to interrogation and
decreases pain tolerance (Maxon).] (MOVE chunk to before according to Maxom..)
Fryer (use full name first time using author) explores in his Harvard Business Review (,)
(he) issue(s) four major impacts sleep deprivation has on our cognitive performance. Throughout
the day, everyone has a built (build) up of homeostatic pressure for sleep. This need becomes
stronger depending on how much sleep a person had the night before. Our sleep and wake up
cycles are completely involuntary. (combine two sentences)We cannot control when we
sleep or when we wake up, even though most people think they do. ( Combine sentences)
This is especially true when we become extremely drowsy. As discovered by Dr. Clif Saper at
Harvard Medical School, when we become drowsy, it can be a sign that our brain is telling us we
need to sleep soon, or it will seize (cease?) control. When our homeostatic pressure becomes too
great, thousand of neurons in our brain responsible for sleep ignite, which then causes sleep to
seize the brain anywhere at anytime (Fryer). (move to where you first mention homeostatic
pressure a couple sentences above!) This is especially true (use different phrase, already used
this is especially true above: It is accurateIt was found..) with drivers who become drowsy and
falls asleep at the wheel without remembering they did. Specialists also call this micro sleeps,
when the brain forces the body to sleep on its own (Maxon).
The second major impact on our cognitive perform (ance?) according to Fryer is
determined from the amount of hours you (of) sleep (received) over several days. With eight
complete (unneeded) hours of sleep everyday, we are expected to be stable. With less sleep (than
8 hours), we build up sleep deficit, which results in cognitive impairment. Being awake for over
twenty-four hours is equivalent to legal drunkenness, which can also result in: slurred speech,

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longer reaction time, short and long term memory problems, affects decision making capacity,
math processing, cognitive speed, impedes judgment, and spatial orientation. This is also true
(The definition of legal drunkenness can also be met) when someone cuts back hours of sleep
over a period of days. When a person sleeps an average of five to six hours a night for several
days in a row, these effects magnifies (magnify) (Fryer). Serious lack of sleep can also increases
(increase) temporary lapses in attention, which is when a person experience (experiences)
periods of non-responsiveness lasting a second (Bianchi). According to Maxons own
experience, there were days where he completely renounced speech altogether and days where he
only spoke rhyme.
The third impact on our cognitive performance according to Fryer involves our circadian
rhythm. This refers to our internal body clock or neurological timing device. (dont end
sentence here: which, tells our..) This tells our body when its dawn or midnight. It sends out
the strongest sleep drive just before we wake up and the strongest wake drive when we are about
to go to sleep. Our homeostatic pressure works together with the circadian rhythm, though they
work in opposition to one another. Most scientists dont have clear explanations for this
phenomenon, but because we dont take frequent naps like most animals, it helps us stay awake
and sleep in one long interval. As midafternoon arrives, we usually have the need to sleep or take
a nap, which is why many people turn to caffeine to help them stay awake. Caffeine temporarily
blocks receptors in our brain that regulates sleep. At this time, our homeostatic pressure for sleep
builds up, but our circadian rhythm hasnt settled in to keep us awake. As it eventually does, we
are able to stay awake through the day. As night falls, melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep
and wake cycles, increases, which then quiets the circadian signal to stay awake, allowing us to

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fall asleep. As our homeostatic pressure goes away, the circadian sends out sleep signals through
the night and increases until morning. As we wake up, melatonin declines (Fryer).
The final impact on cognitive performance from sleep deprivation involves sleep
inertia, which is the grogginess many people experience when first waking up. During this
period, our brain needs to wake up, which also means our memory and decision-making isnt at
its peak during this time. It doesnt actually reach its peak until a couple hours later. Sleep inertia
is especially dangerous for drivers and workers. Drowsy drivers accounts for a fifth of car
accidents in the United States annually. This is equivalent to 8,000 deaths per year. (citation?)
An estimated 80,000 drivers fall asleep while driving everything, with 10% swerving off the road
and every two minutes, one crashes. (Citation?)Workers are also at risk from sleep deprivation.
Interestingly, many work accidents mentioned on media are a result of tired, sleep-deprived
workers. The oil spill of Exxon Valdez and an incident involving a metro train in New York that
derailed were caused by sleep deprived workers (Maxon). These workers put themselves,
companies and the general public in dangerous situations because most companies dont enforce
policies on how much sleep a worker needs, but enforces policies on drinking, smoking, etc.
(Fryer). Sleepiness and alcohol intoxication parallels each other more closely than most realize
(Bianchi). (How so?)
Sleep deprivation have (has) been shown to increase weight gain, heart disease, type II
diabetes and high blood pressure. These health problems can cause serious cardiovascular
diseases in the future, which is why sleep deprivation can cause long-term effects (Bianchi).
While we sleep, our body undergoes multiple repairs. According to Maxon, our cells provide
oxygen and glucose as by-products as they undergo cycles of repair when we sleep. So what
happens when we stay up all night? Our brain denies these products, which then hampers our

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organs disrupting our body systems. While we are awake throughout the day, our cells burn off
energy, releasing what scientist call substance S. Substance S is believed to be adenosine,
which is release as a by-product of these cells into the blood stream. When we sleep, our body
clears our blood stream of this substance, but if we dont this substance can pile up, clogging our
system (Maxon). (REALLY GREAT DESCRIPTION THAT RELATES TO YOUR POINT! :D)
As mentioned earlier, we have our own circadian body clock. Carolyn Kylstra, from BuzzFeed
Staff wrote in her article (specify article type?) , 10 Horrible Things Pulling An All-Nighter Does
to Your Brain, our hypothalamus in the brain is in charge of the circadian clock that every cell in
the body has. It makes sure everything functions normally. Throughout the day, we send
different signals to our hypothalamus to activate different hormones to trigger hunger, sleepiness,
etc. Being sleep deprived (Reword: When you are sleep deprived) , these signals mess up, which
causes you to feel hungry late at night, leading to unhealthy snacking (Kylstra). Denise Manns
(specify article, book, what?) Sleep and Weight Gain on WebMD, reviewed by Hansa D.
Bhargava, MD, she (delete she) states that while sleep deprived and tired, we are running low on
energy, causing us to turn to unhealthy snacks to wake us up. Without good sleep quality, our
metabolism doesnt function properly, causing unwanted weight gain and could ultimately lead
to obesity (Mann).
Its pretty clear; sleep deprivation has numerous effects on every part of the human body.
Sleep is a natural part of our routine that every animals needs to survive. Our cells and our
organs malfunction if we dont nourish our body with quality sleep. Brain performance goes out
of sync and our body suffers, resulting in cardiovascular and metabolic illnesses. Drowsy drivers
and tired workers put themselves and others at risk because of lack of sleep. Even the
government adopted sleep deprivation as a torture tactic because of how much it impairs the

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brain. All of these (facts) show how sleep deprivation can be so deadly for us. It explains the
reason why many doctors emphasize getting eight hours of sleep is essential to maintain good
health. A majority of the population has experience(d) twenty-four hours or more of no sleep at
one point in their lives. The exhaustion can be very overwhelming.

Jenny, your essay is written very well. Every point you have made ties back to your
overall question and statement of how getting the recommended hours of sleep is important to
maintain human functioning. You went into the facts, cited and myth, of how and why it is
important. You talked about the biology of the brain and body and then how the average human
being shows it. You ended very strong putting in all of your information in just the right places. I
would maybe suggest just that in the beginning you start off a little stronger and not with the
Joubert family story. It is a good story and connects perfectly, but just make sure that you
introduce your idea of sleep deprivation before going into the story! Also just fixed minor little
grammar mistakes or just added suggestions as well. Great job!

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Works Cited
Bianchi, Matt T. Sleep Deprivation and Disease: Effects on the Body, Brain and Behavior. 2014.
Web. 2 Apr. 2015
Fryer, Bronwyn. "Sleep Deficit: the Performance Killer." Harvard Business Review. Harvard
Business School Publishing, Oct. 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2015
Kylstra, Carolyn. "10 Horrible Things Pulling an All-Nighter Does to Your Brain." BuzzFeed.
BuzzFeed Staff, June . Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Mann, Denise. "Sleep and Weight Gain." Coping With Excessive Sleepiness. WebMD, Web. 2
Apr. 2015.
Maxon, Seth. "How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind and Body." The Atlantic. The Atlantic,
30 Dec. 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Press, Associated, ed. "6 Killed as SUV Hits Big Rig." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2002. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.