Franklin 
Although many in the medical community understand food security, housing and education all affect health outcomes, few realise sleep does. People contend healthy sleep hygiene should be emphasised in all public health endeavours, clinical practice settings at the hospital, long-term care facility or workplace environment.
Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Simply put, research has found an association between sleep quality and heart health. Those who are sleep-deprived run a higher risk of CVD. Obtaining adequate sleep dramatically lowers that risk. A large prospective cohort study has shown that shorter sleep duration is linked to higher risk of CVD incidence and mortality in men and women, even after controlling for other variables. Women were most at risk. Sleep deprivation could be involved by virtue of neuroendocrine and metabolic pathways (ie, leptin levels decreased, ghrelin27 increased), hypothalamus axis activity and sympathetic nervous system activity, elevated cortisol and triglyceride levels, among others.
Improves Memory
We know that sleep is good for us because, on average, we feel alert when we wake up and because we understand the need for it for muscle repair, brain cleansing, memory consolidation, and more. Go to sleep right after learning something new, like a route you’ve never taken before, and you’ll be helping reinforce that process of memory consolidation. Scientists call this practice memory consolidation. Reactivation during sleep, the idea is called, because the newly acquired information is ‘re-aroused’ from its storage caverns and reinstated into circuits of reminiscence. Scientific studies suggest that the technique increases recall of facts and events from one’s recollection of things and things that happened, a form of ‘declarative’ memory.
Decreases Risk of Cancer
In addition to lengthened lifespans, higher quality of life and lower rates of mental illness, soothing our insomnia also tends to reduce our risk of developing a number of health problems, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. As an example, over years of research, studies show that people who get less than six hours of sleep each night are three times as likely to die from cancer as those sleeping at least seven hours nightly. We also know that sleep deprivation dulls our immune response: deprived of sleep, we become more susceptible to a common bout of flu. To that added catalogue, it’s now also known to lower production of cytokines that support immunity, assisting in the body’s natural defences and bolstering immune responses. But now, Salas says, she sees increasing numbers of medical students expressing an interest in learning about sleep science. She created a sleep medicine curriculum at her own programme and is advising other programmes how they might incorporate similar training.
Decreases Risk of Diabetes
Those living with diabetes are at increased risk of sleep disorders, notably obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), defined as recurrent central or upper airway collapse during the night, as well as insomnia. Both of these conditions can blunt the response their bodies typically make to secreted insulin, leading to soaring levels of blood sugars. An American study has demonstrated that inadequate sleep triples the risk of type 2 diabetes, with insulin resistance and blood sugar rising when people get less than seven hours of undisturbed sleep a night. Though many studies show the correlation between adequate sleep and better health and many practitioners consider it an essential part of their wellbeing, it might be because very little attention is paid to sleep medicine during medical school and because they may not have enough time to develop good sleep habits due to their busy schedules.
Decreases Risk of Mental Illness
We need to sleep to restore and repair our bodies, to keep us balanced and to protect us against mental health problems: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Poor sleep has been linked to an increase in depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Research has found that sleep-sufficient people report better mental health and a higher perceived physical health status, and have a lower risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Sleep strengthens or fixes memories, or helps create new ones; it clears out the debris that has built up since the last sleep. Consequently, students perform better in school when they are well-rested – and so do adults who work in professions where they must learn and remember things, such as teachers or police officers.
