Sleep Health in the News

CNN recently published an article about the effects of healthy sleep on the grade's of college students. The article cites a study from Scientific Reports that focused on the sleep patterns of students at the college level. The data was collected over a period of 30 days, where students were divided into groups of regular or irregular sleepers. 

The study concluded that the irregular sleepers were given lower scores on a unique scoring index used for this study. The index was measured from 0 to 100, with the irregular sleepers scoring closer to 0. If a student increased his score on the index by 10, it was found that their GPA would have a .10 increase. 

The study came to a conclusion that irregular sleepers have a delayed release of melatonin, which is a sleep hormone. The release of melatonin has a profound effect on our body's circadian clock, which helps keep time for our biological functions. The effect can be so large that it can effect a student's ability to perform well in school. 

In closing, the article recommends that students set a sleep schedule and then stick to it as best as possible. They also think it is a good idea to maintain that schedule over the weekends, and try not to sleep in as much. However, I know that will be hard for a lot of us.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/12/health/student-sleep-grades-study/index.html