In 1965, a 17-year-old  boy with the name Randy Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours. It's 11 days to see how he made it without sleep. On the second day, his eyes stopped concentrating. He lost the capacity to identify objects by feeling or touch. By the third day, Gardner was moody and uncoordinated. By the end of the experiment, he had trouble concentrating, had problems with short-term memory, became paranoid, and began hallucinating. 

Although Gardner recovered with no long-term psychological or physical damage, the lack of sleep can lead to hormonal imbalance, disease and, in extreme cases, death in others. We're just beginning to understand why we sleep, but we know it's very important.

Adults want seven to 8 hours of sleep a night, teens approximately ten. We get sleepy because of alerts from our body telling our brain that we're worn out and alerts from the surroundings telling us it is dark outside. The upward thrust in sleep-inducing chemicals, like adenosine and melatonin, sends us right into a mild dose that grows deeper, making our respiratory and heartbeat sluggish down and our muscle tissues relax.   In this non-REM sleep, DNA is repaired and our bodies, refill themselves for the subsequent day.
In Nigeria, an estimated  30% of adults and 66% of youth be afflicted by sleep deprivation on an everyday basis. This isn't always only a minor inconvenience. Staying wakeful can motive extreme physical harm. 


When we sleep, learning, memory, mood, and response time are all affected. Insomnia also can reason inflammation, hallucinations, and excessive blood pressure, and has even been connected to diabetes and obesity.
In 2014, a religious soccer fan died after staying up forty-eight hours to observe the World Cup. While his early death was due to a stroke, studies show that chronically sleeping less than six hours a night increases the risk of stroke by four and a half times compared to those who sleep seven to eight hours continuously. 

For a handful of people on the planet who are carriers of a rare inherited genetic mutation, insomnia is a daily reality. This condition, known as Fatal Familial Insomnia, puts body in a nightmarish state. Guard and forbid him to enter the sanctuary of sleep, over months or years, this progressively worsening condition leads to dementia and death.


How can sleep deprivation cause such immense suffering? 


Scientists believe the answer lies in the accumulation of waste products in the brain. During our waking hours, our cells are busy utilizing our day's energy sources, which are broken down into various byproducts, including adenosine. 

As adenosine builds up, the need for sleep, also known as sleep pressure, increases. In fact, caffeine works by blocking the adenosine receptor pathways. Other waste products also accumulate in the brain and if not removed collectively overload the brain and are believed to lead to the many negative symptoms of sleep deprivation.

So what happens in our brain when we sleep to prevent this? Scientists found what's called the glymphatic system, a cleansing mechanism that removes these deposits and is much more active when we sleep. It works by using cerebrospinal fluid to remove toxic byproducts that build up between cells.

 Recently discovered in the brain as pathways for immune cells, they may also play a role in removing daily waste products from the brain. As scientists continue to explore the recovery mechanisms behind sleep, we can rest assured that sleep is a necessity if we are to maintain our health and sanity.