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Post by Roger Elliott on Dec 17, 2016 14:41:50 GMT -4
Since beginning pre-med during my undergraduate studies and continuing on through medical school, it seems as though getting minimal to no sleep when completing an assignment or studying for exams is a right of passage and/or norm. The article made numerous interesting points ranging from hours of sleep needed and sleep deprivation to caffeine use and energy drinks. All areas in which I feel well acquainted. In regards to the mention of the science fair participant who stayed awake for 11 days straight, I found it fascinating how this individual had little to no side effects of sleep deprivation. After a quick google search I found numerous cases of people dying after only 3 days of no sleep to dying after 22 days of straight online gaming binge. Thus it is clear that the physiologic need for sleep differs from individual to individual. Why there is this need and what causes it should be an area of further research into sleep and sleep deprivation.
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Post by Nick Kessener on Dec 17, 2016 17:59:54 GMT -4
The "How to Sleep" article is a relevant, if not not novel, piece on the practice and necessity of sleep. Sleep is one of the most useful and necessary requirements for our bodies and yet i one of the most often abused and modified. For current and future clinicians, this is a topic that must be known and respected and sleep deprivation is very nearly part of the job description. As the author found, physiologic affects of sleep deprivation are quite real and may prove to be unsafe or at least disturbing. In order to treat patients to the best of our abilities, we should remain mentally alert and physically ready and proper sleep is the best way to continue to do so. Just as it is illegal to consume alcohol before or during a shift, sleep deprivation should not be allowed to enter the spectrum. I believe the article offers several practical tips on how to avoid such fatigue. On top of good practice of "sleep hygiene", concepts such as polyphasic sleep were interesting as well and could serve as practical practices for sleep deprived physicians.
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Post by Adebola Omotayo on Dec 18, 2016 18:24:57 GMT -4
As students I think we all have been sleep deprived at some point in time. Whether it be while studying for a final or even steps it always seemed like there wasn't enough time in the day to get everything you need to know in your brain, so what do we do stay up, push through and study some more. As time passed I noticed more and more that the sleep deprivation wasn't helping me instead it was working against me. I believe you don't retain as much and you often make more mistakes when you're tired. I like how the author compared lack of sleep to drinking, you might think you're fine and good to go but in fact your abilities are severely impaired. Sleep is one of those things that is highly underrated and people need to start paying attention to.
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Post by Anisha Patel on Dec 18, 2016 20:58:23 GMT -4
This article "How to Sleep" is well written and informative on how many hours to sleep and how to maintain a healthy sleep hygiene; however, it is hard to sleep 7-9 hours every night as a medical student or a resident. Many people do not realize how important sleep is and they may think of it as a waste of time so educating people about sleep is an important matter. Too much caffeine, alcohol and sleeping tablets is also the culprit like the article mentioned. Another aspect that article didn't focus on is eating too close to bedtime can cause heartburn and discomfort in the chest causing hard time to fall asleep. Moreover, the main culprit of restless sleep, as the author stated, is stress. As jobs being so competitive, the value of success being held so high, people are so overwhelm to succeed that they seem to forget the importance of sleep and a chance to relax and unwind before going to bed. People should be well known about the importance of sleep and should know relaxing techniques to relieve that stress that being exercise, yoga or meditation.
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Post by Ayesha Mahbub on Dec 18, 2016 21:59:14 GMT -4
This was a very interesting article. The fact that sleep deprivation causes declining in performances is alarming especially for health care providers. Since health care providers' mistakes can cost human lives when they are sleep deprived. According to the article, we dont realise that our performances are going down when we sleep less. If we dont realise it, we cant take the precaution of stopping ourselves and taking some rest before making a mistake with a patient's life. At the end of article, the author mentioned that the key to good sleep cycle is to have a constant sleep pattern as much as possible. Although it's a good advice, for jobs such as health care providers it can be difficult to implement this advise if workings hours are constantly changing.
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Post by Tuong Nguyen on Dec 19, 2016 20:38:52 GMT -4
Interesting article. As we medical students are about to get into residencies, we have to manage our sleep due to 30+ hours
work shift. Remembering first year of medical students, I used to drink a lot of energy drinks and coffee to stay up
to study all night. I remember after exams, my body just shut down literally. I also remember that I didn't have
a good night sleep afterward. Now the article mentions that coffee can alter your sleep cycles, that is something new. Certainly,
now I go to bed earlier and wake up around 3:30 am just to study.
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Post by Pujyitha Mandiga on Dec 23, 2016 22:53:33 GMT -4
This is a very interesting article. I believe that sleep is one of the most important factors that plays a role in overall quality of life and health. When a person we are working with seems tired or not coherent with the day-to-day activities at the hospital, the question we ask is “are you ok?” if they answer that they are tired, our preceding question is “did you get enough sleep last night?” Unfortunately, most of the medical students do not get enough sleep due to full day of work plus studying after work. Most of the medical students and residents work at suboptimal levels of sleep and lead to chronic sleep disorders. From personal experience, when I have lack of sleep, I suffer from general grogginess and lack of mental clarity. My energy throughout the day largely depends on the quantity and quality of sleep that I got the night before. Many of the people are experiencing the repercussions of inadequate sleep since childhood. There are many pediatric centers where children are suffering from sleep disorders due to school start times. Most adults are fine with about 7-8 hours of sleep, but toddlers need around 12 -13 hours of sleep and children need around 10-11 hours of sleep. Most of the teenagers tend to be night owls and their ideal circadian rhythm has them going to bed late and waking up late. I believe that as the schools started moving their times earlier and earlier, the health effects have been severe on students due to circadian rhythm disruption. For example, waking a teen at six in the morning is like waking an adult at three at night.
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Post by janaya on Dec 28, 2016 1:27:40 GMT -4
Sorry I'm late! Christmas weekend kind of got away from me!
Having done the reading finally, I must admit this article struck somewhat of a nerve with me. For the entirety of my academic career, and well into my adolescence and teenage years, I've been somewhat of a night owl to say the least. I've always done things in general differently than my peers, as I've learned to work with and around certain strengths and weaknesses of mine. Operating on somewhat of an erratic work and sleep schedule is one of those things that I've always done, and had success with. I tend to work well under pressure, and I suppose the sense of urgency that comes with that third cup of coffee at 3am gets me in gear. During basic sciences I'd often stay up night after night, studying and filling myself with various stimulants- coffee, energy drinks, cigarettes, caffeine pills. And though I knew this wasn't the healthiest of methods, the ends always seemed to justify the means. All of this to say, that though I'm not as bad as I used to be, seeing the dangers of sleep deprivation and caffeine/stimulant use outlined in this article was a bit alarming.
Somewhat of an alarming read, but certainly one that I'll be sure to keep in mind for my future patients and for myself. And with that, I say good night, I'm going to sleep!
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Post by Andrej Gabrovsek on Jan 1, 2017 20:38:31 GMT -4
After reading this article all I could think about was moderation. As an older student I get the desire younger people may have to stay awake longer and do more. I just believe in moderation much like the article presents 7.5 or so hours per night seems to allow people to be healthier and probably more productive. The article then goes into caffeine which as it states is the most used stimulant. Like any drug if used to much its affects will decrease. All this just leads back to moderation.
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Post by Andrej Gabrovsek on Jan 1, 2017 20:39:24 GMT -4
After reading this article all I could think about was moderation. As an older student I get the desire younger people may have to stay awake longer and do more. I just believe in moderation much like the article presents 7.5 or so hours per night seems to allow people to be healthier and probably more productive. The article then goes into caffeine which as it states is the most used stimulant. Like any drug if used to much its affects will decrease. All this just leads back to moderation.
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