It seems obvious that sleep is beneficial and important, even without fully understanding the concept of sleep and what it does, we know that not sleeping or not having enough sleep during the night makes us feel distress and that getting enough sleep at nights can make us feel refreshed and energized.

Parents often made sure that their little children often get into bed at early hours of the night rather than late hours. Conventional wisdom made us believed that an early bedtime is essential for a good night’s sleep, which is very important for normal body functions and also enhances healthy childhood development.

In the studies of humans and some animals, scientists have discovered that sleep plays a significant role in metabolism, immune function, learning, memory and other important body functions and also health maintenance. This article will provide you with details on how sleeping early and sleeping late may affect the human body.

Advantages Of Sleeping Early

Sleeping early keeps your heart healthy – Lack of sleep has been known to contribute to high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, which are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. You will have a healthier heart if you sleep early and get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep at nights.

Sleeping early may prevent cancer – According to researchers, it is said that people who work late at nights have a higher risk of developing colon and breast cancers. This is believed to result from reduced levels of melatonin caused by light exposure, melatonin is the hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin appears to suppress tumor growth and protect against cancer.

Sleeping early makes you energetic and more alert - Of course, having enough sleep at night will make you feel energized and more alert the next day. Being active and engaged not only feels great also but increases your chances of having another good night's sleep in the next day.

Sleeping early improves your memory – It is believed that sleeping early plays a significant role in memory consolidation a process where your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between sensory input, events  memories, and feelings. Sleeping early will make you get more quality sleep which will help you process and remember things better.

Sleeping early helps the body repair itself – Sleeping allows the body to relax and the same repairing damage on body cells and tissues caused by ultraviolet rays, stress, and some other harmful exposures. When sleeping, the body produces more protein which forms the building blocks for body cells and tissues, allowing them to repair the damages.

Disadvantages of sleeping early

There no known disastrous disadvantages of sleeping early at night, as it appears that, sleeping early is very important for normal body function and maintenance of health. Although some people complained that sleeping early may lead to hypersomnia – a condition associated with excessive sleepiness.

Advantages Of Sleeping Late

Sleeping late at night does more harm than benefits to you, as it appears to have serious negative consequences on normal body functions and maintenance of health. So there are no known positive effects of sleeping late on the human body.

Disadvantages Of Sleeping Late

Sleeping late may increase blood pressure level - sleep loss stresses out your mind and body in a way that may cause your blood pressure to heightened. Over time, elevated blood pressure may cause health problems you certainly don’t want such as damage your arteries, kidneys, heart and may even lead to loss of vision.

Sleeping late may weaken your immune system - vaccines which are designed to make your body creates antibodies, so as to provide immunity to a specific infection or infection may be ineffective due to sleep loss. But sleeping late at nights results into exhaustion which compromises the immune system and results in the production of adequate antibodies.

Sleeping late at nights induces stress causes Premature aging – sleeping late makes your body releases cortisol which is the stress hormone. Too much secretion of cortisol will result in the breakdown of protein that enhances skin elasticity and smoothness. 

Sleeping late may cause weight gain – according to studies, it has been found that individuals who sleep late and less are more likely to be overweight. Which may be because sleep deprivation affects ghrelin - the hormone that regulates appetite, this effect may lead to chronic overeating, and subsequently weight gain.

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Final Verdict

Although scientists aren't too sure why we sleep, but they have many ideas about the benefits of this important part of our lives. Adequate sleep is required for the ability of humans to perform memory tasks, also our body requires long hours of sleep in order to grow muscle, repair tissues, secretes hormones and so on.

From the detailed reasons provided above, you can see that sleep is one of the basic human needs. Sleeping early is essential for getting enough night rest, which in turn is very vital for your body normal functions and maintenance of your health. When you keep not getting enough sleep, it can affect your body in the long run.

So, it is recommended to sleep early and get a night’s sleep of about 7 to 9 hours.

Thank you for reading.

- Ashraf

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