The Importance of Sleep
Sleep is important for a wide variety of reasons. It is the resource that keeps our body ticking, allowing us to recover and rebuild overnight so that we are ready for another day of work and challenges. How much sleep should you be getting, though?
The Importance Of Sleeping
Eight Hours
Eight hours tends to be the number recited across the board. However, it’s very rare that an adult is able to get a constant eight hours of sleep every night. There are responsibilities and external factors that make such a number only a dream.
Eight Hours
Conditional
You’re going to struggle to get to sleep if it’s too humid, for example. If you open your window, you might then be too cold. Perhaps your duvet is too light or heavy, or maybe the neighbors are having a backyard party on a Saturday night.
Conditional
Professional Advice
Sleep deprivation among adults is such a big issue that even official governmental bodies are trying to combat it. The NHS recommends use shades or reflectively materials on the outside of windows, and if you can’t do that, then get light-colored curtains.
Professional Advice
Personal Advice
Despite this professional opinion, most people’s solution to the issue is to plug in a fan. It cools them down, sure, but you also get the white noise effect from it, which can be just as useful for helping you nod off.
Personal Advice
Balance
A fan is going to keep air circulating around your room all night, keeping it cool and preventing it from getting musty. However, you still need to weigh up the pros and cons of leaving one on overnight.
Balance
Scientific Downside
It’s not just running up your electricity bill that we are concerned with. There are scientists that state running a fan all night can have serious effects on your body and mind, and that it affects everyone differently.
Scientific Downside
Particles
When you think about it, while that air is circulating, all of the dust and pollen particles around your room are circulating with it. People with any allergies or breathing conditions might find that they are worse with the fan on.
Particles
There’s More
It’s not just allergies that you need to worry about, though. When air is constantly being blasted at your skin, it can cause it to become dehydrated. This can cause irritation and rashes that need to be moisturized to combat.
There’s More
Eyes Wide Open
You’d be surprised at the amount of people that sleep with their eyes open and don’t even realize. For these people, leaving a fan on can dry them out too, causing painful reddening and irritation.
Eyes Wide Open
Even Still
Even if you don’t have any issues with dust and pollen, and sleep with your eyes tightly shut, you can still be affected by a fan. The constant air is going to dry out your nasal passages, which can have a serious impact on your sinuses.
Even Still
Muscles
If you leave the fan on anywhere near your body, you might find that you wake up a little sore. That’s because the air blast from fans can actually have a negative effect on your muscles, and leave them battered and fatigued.
Neck Pain.
Professional Conflict
However, the scientific community seems torn on whether or not sleeping with a fan is actually as bad for you as some claim. Some of the more prominent voices have claimed that the links between fans and issues are purely coincidental.
Professional Conflict
Upgrade The Fan
However, most if not all of the scientists speaking on the issue accept that you should upgrade your fan regularly to see the best results. Don’t let your fan get old, dirty, worn down, and well past its best by date.
Upgrade The Fan
Fan Type
There are those that believe the type of fan you have impacts your sleep, and there have been studies to back up this claim. The general consensus is that electric fans become ineffective at a certain temperature, which causes more harm than good.
Fan Type
Warm Air
The reason for this is simple. When the room temperature climbs above 95 degrees, it’s no longer circulating cold air. Instead, that warm and sticky hot air is being blown around, which could end up being warmer than your body temperature.
Warm Air
Consider The Risks
While you might enjoy the benefits of running a fan at night, next time you go to turn it on, consider the health effects, and give it a second thought if you have allergies.
Consider The Risks
Other Dangerous Habits
It’s not just turning on the fan at night that can have serious consequences on your health. Most of us, when the weather’s hot, turn to sweet drinks in the middle of the night to keep us hydrated.
Other Dangerous Habits
Tragedy
Davis Cripe was a regular teenager when his life was lost. After making a habit of consuming energy drinks to stay up and energized longer, he died suddenly, leaving everyone in his life heartbroken and shocked.
Tragedy
What He Was Like
Cripe was from Richland County in South Carolina. He had a passion for music and played many different instruments with extreme talent. He kept up with his studies and was generally considered to be a good kid.
What He Was Like
He Lost His Life
However, despite this, Cripe lost his life in April of 2017. At only 16 years old, his parents were distraught that they would never see their boy finish growing up into a man.
He Lost His Life
Feeling Dizzy
Cripe had gotten up that morning like every other day, and everything seemed normal. He began to feel light-headed while in art class, however, when he suddenly collapsed onto the floor. An ambulance was called and he was rushed to the hospital.
Feeling Dizzy
The Shocking News
Cripe was known as a happy and healthy teenager. When he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving in the hospital, it came as a massive shock to all of his friends and family.
The Shocking News
They Were Baffled
Initially, his sudden death left everyone, doctors included, confused as to the cause. He maintained an active lifestyle and had no life-threatening underlying illnesses. However, as his classmates began to speak about the incident, questions were answered.
They Were Baffled
Excessive Caffeine
A friend that was with Cripe on the day of his death began to open up about what had happened prior to him collapsing. The only thing out of the ordinary was the excessive amount of energy drinks and coffee that Cripe has ingested that day.
Excessive Caffeine
Confirmation Of Suspicion
Following that information and an investigation, the county coroner announced that the excessive energy drinks had brought on a cardiac arrest. However, he also stated that the teen had been extremely unlucky.
Confirmation Of Suspicion
Affects Everyone Differently
The coroner, Gary Watts, stated that you could have the same amount of caffeine on a different day, perhaps even more, and be completely okay. He claimed you could line a group up, give them the same amount, and it would affect each person differently.
Affects Everyone Differently
What Happened
In medical terms, Cripe has consumed enough caffeine in a short space of time to bring on cardiac arrhythmia. This prevents the heart from beating correctly, which deprives organs of blood, eventually causing them to fail.
What Happened
They Had No Idea
The announcement that caffeine had brought about their son’s death came as a total shock to the Cripe family. They never imagined that something as presumably harmless as shop-bought energy drinks could cause such a thing.
They Had No Idea
It Wasn’t a Car
Cripe’s father did an interview with CBS News in 2017 talking about the incident. He claimed that Davis was a good kid and that he was worried about him getting in a car crash, not losing his life to an energy drink.
It Wasn’t A Car
Hidden Threat
Despite what you might think, caffeinated drinks can have a serious impact on one’s health if not drank in moderation. In fact, energy drinks put 20,000 people into the hospital every year.
Hidden Threat
It’s Not Just Caffeine
The issue is that it’s not just caffeine in an energy drink. You’re also getting all kinds of other stimulants. As well as that, whereas it might take you an hour to drink a coffee, an energy drink can be chugged in seconds.
It’s Not Just Caffeine
Not for Children
There are studies and reports stating that many of the ingredients in energy drinks have not been tested for the effects on children. As such, young people should stay away from any kind of energy stimulant.
Not For Children
Awareness Is Key
Cripe’s family have now dedicated themselves to spreading the word about the dangers of energy drinks. There is little reporting on the dangers of caffeine stimulants, but if they can stop even one family from going through what they went through, it’s worth it.
Awareness Is Key
Parents’ Duty
Cripe’s bereaved father believes that it’s an adult’s duty to warn children about the dangers of energy drinks. He says that adults need to inform their kids and let them make their own decision while being aware of the risks.
Parents’ Duty
Pleading With Others
Cripe’s dad has been pleading through his activism that parents speak to their children about the effects of energy drinks. He also urges teenagers not to buy them, despite them maybe needing the energy boost it provides.
Pleading With Others
Caffeine Amount
According to online sources, adults consume an average of 400 milligrams of caffeine every day. That equates to four cups of coffee. Cripe has consumed only 500 milligrams. However, that had been in a short time frame, and he had been very unlucky.
Caffeine Amount
Moderation Is Key
Keeping all of this in mind, coroner Watts claims that it is all about moderation. The purpose of this activism is not to turn energy drinks into the new smoking, and instead to inform and educate young people on the dangers of consuming too much.
Moderation Is Key
All the Same
Despite the best efforts of the Cripe family, many teens are still hospitalized by energy drinks every year. While few are as unlucky as Davis was, it remains a major issue that needs to be addressed.
All the Same
A Systematic Issue
Perhaps it’s worth examining caffeine consumption under the light of a systematic issue. Why do teens need to seek out an energy supplement? Are they not getting enough sleep? Are school schedules and pressure a part of it?
A Systemic Issue