A sleep cycle refers to the different states of sleep that one goes through when they rest. The first stage of the cycle is referred to as the light sleep state. This is then followed by the deep sleep state and finally Rapid Eye Movements (REM)-sleep or dream state as others may call it. A normal sleep cycle lasts for 90 minutes and it is usually repeated several times in a night.
Sleep deprivation can be very detrimental to a person’s well-being. According to the speaker, individuals who fail to get enough sleep tend to experience tiredness and as such, they fall asleep involuntarily. This translates to almost 30% of drivers who take micro-sleeps and end up causing thousands of road accidents every year. In addition to this, the brain often gets exhausted and tends to crave for stimulants such nicotine and caffeine. Foster notes that some people may resort to alcohol as a sedative but instead, it ends up sabotaging some neural functions. Sleep loss also has the capability of affecting an individual’s physical health. This is evident in some cases where a person gains weight as a result of this deprivation. Moreover, lack of adequate sleep may also lead to high levels of stress and a weak immune system that makes the body susceptible to cardiovascular disease, diabetes 2 and other health complications.
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After listening to the speaker, I realized that some of the myths I believed to be true are just but assumptions that were made up. For instance, I used to think that people need 8 hours of sleep in a day. I was surprised to find out that this is an average that people created to schedule their sleeping hours. I also believed in the myth that talks about going early to bed and waking up early so that you can be healthy, strong and wise. I was disappointed to discover that this is just a story that was made up. Foster’s ted talk talks of the importance of sleep by dismissing any perceptions and myths that exist regarding this topic.
