Lack of sleep can cause health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, negative mood behaviors, decreased productivity in the work place and serious safety issues at home, on job and on road.

According to sleep experts, teens need at least 8.5 - 9.25 hours of sleep each night,compared to an average of seven to nine hours each night for most adults. Their internal biological clocks also keep them awake later in the evening and keep them sleeping later in the morning.

The leads to a problem faced by the school going children, who have to wake up at a time when their body wants to be asleep naturally, as most of the schools worldwide begin classes early in the morning. So, children reach school feeling too sleepy to learn, though it is not their fault at all they may be seen as lazy or lacking attention.

Studies reveal the relationship between the quantity and quality of one's sleep and a number of health problems. For example, insufficient sleep can affect growth hormone secretion that is linked with obesity. If the amount of hormone secretion decreases, weight gain increases as a result.

Blood pressure usually drops during the sleep cycle, lack of proper sleep can lead to hypertension, cardiovascular problems and fall of blood pressure long term. Research also infers that insufficient sleep impairs the body's ability to use insulin, which can lead to the onset of diabetes.Several scientific studies are now indicatating a direct link between poor quality or insufficient sleep and a number of other diseases and illnesses.

As you grow older, you need slightly fewer hours of sleep. For an average adult, sleep experts recommend a range of seven to nine hours of sleep. Sleep patterns might change with the growing age but the requirement remain pretty much the same. Older people tend to wake up through the night often because of other health issues and get less night time sleep, but their sleep need is much the same as that of younger adults.

Because they may sleep less during the night, older people tend to sleep more during the day. Naps planned as part of a regular daily routine can be useful in promoting wakefulness after the person awakens often after meals or during the afternoon when the body is at it's lowest.

Contrary to popular belief, your brain never actually sleeps. The body rests during sleep, however, the brain remains active, gets "recharged," and still controls many body functions including breathing which is good thing of course. When we sleep, we typically drift between two sleep states, REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM, in 90-minute cycles.

There are four stages of non-REM stage of sleep, these include stage one drowsiness, when one can be easily awakened, to stages three and four of very deep sleep when wake some one up is much more difficult and the most positive and restorative effects of sleep occur during that deeper sleep time. Howeever even in the deepest of non-REM sleep, the mind still processes information. The active sleep is REM where dreams may occur; during REM sleep breathing and heart rate increase and may also become rather irregular, your muscles relax and your eyes move back and forth under the eyelids.

Some days when you have been rushing around or something is playing on your mind you'll find it difficult to relax when you get to bed to sleep . I have often found a glass of warm milk whilst listening to relaxing music or a hypnosis audio helps me give it a try for yourself.