Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
If getting more sleep is not one of your New Year's resolutions for 2025, you might want to rethink that decision. Quality sleep, and getting enough of it, is as critical to your health, well-being, and daily performance as food and water. Most people simply take the power and importance of sleep for granted.
"Sleep is one of the key building blocks of life," says Kathleen Digre, MD, a headache and neuro-ophthalmology neurologist at University of Utah Health. "It affects all animals. You must sleep to not only maintain homeostasis (a stable temperature, blood pressure, and energy) in your body but also your mental and physical health."
Digre stresses the critical nature of sleep with her patients, many of whom suffer with migraine headaches. She suggests that no matter what kind of physical or mental condition you might be dealing with, sleep deprivation will only make it worse.
"You can imagine if you are sleep deprived all the time, your pain threshold is going to be lower," Digre says. "I always tell my patients that if you don't have your sleep under control, then I'm not going to be able to get your migraine under control because sleep is the time when that restorative cleansing of the brain takes place."
It might be surprising to learn that people's brains and bodies are quite active while they sleep. According to findings in recent studies, sleep takes on a housekeeping role in the brain by removing toxins that have built up during your waking hours.
The glymphatic system drains waste products from the brain at night. So, you need to do that every 24 hours, and if you don't do that, then there is a higher chance of you having other problems like degenerative and heart conditions. This sleep is required of all animals.
–Kathleen Digre, MD, neurologist at University of Utah Health
Digre explains the process this way: "There's a system called the glymphatic system that we didn't even know existed for many, many years. But the glymphatic system drains waste products from the brain at night. So, you need to do that every 24 hours, and if you don't do that, then there is a higher chance of you having other problems like degenerative and heart conditions. This sleep is required of all animals."
The bottom line is that sleep is a necessary but rarely recognized asset. In fact, scientists and medical professionals have now started to call it "sleep capital." They argue that a lack of sleep capital can quickly deplete and eventually bankrupt the mind and body of the ability to be productive, creative and resilient.
It is apparent people in the U.S. are living in an increasingly sleep deprived society. A 2023 study showed one in three adults in the United States logged less than seven hours of sleep each day. The ability to be socially, mentally, and economically productive in a competitive world depends on a better understanding of why people are not getting the sleep they need today and throughout their lifespans. It is time to prioritize and start to address this critical health issue.
Digre understands there are many causes of sleep deprivation.
"I think there are a lot of reasons for people to be a little sleep deprived in our current age because of their schedules and just the way our society works. People are working a lot and having a lot of screen time and not taking much time to prepare to go to sleep and turn off their brains."
Most people need seven hours of sleep a night, according to Digre. It might sound like a lot of time in bed, but she emphasizes it is the ideal amount of sleep for the average person. As the director of the Center of Excellence in Women's Health at U of U Health, Digre also knows sleep needs are different for men and women.

"Women, in general, need a little bit longer sleep than men," Digre says. "Women's hormonal factors play a role like in young women's menstrual cycles. Sometimes sleep needs will be different during the menstrual cycle. The really big change comes in menopause for women, when their sleep efficiency really declines. This is a very well-described problem as women get older."
As Americans work longer hours and become more plugged into blue light-generating computers and phones, they will need good strategies for catching up on their sleep. Digre suggests starting with good sleep hygiene, including setting a schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. She also recommends creating a bedroom environment conducive to sleep with all lights and electronics turned off.
"You should not be doing anything else in bed but sleeping," Digre says. "No digital devices like TV, iPad, and cell phones an hour before bedtime, just to give your brain some time to recognize it's time to go to sleep. You want your brain and your body to know that when they go to bed, that's the place they go to sleep."
Alcohol in any amount can impact your sleep and it is best to cut off caffeine in any form several hours before bed. Digre does not encourage or discourage using devices to monitor your sleep time and quality.
"Fitbits, Apple Watches, Oura rings, and all these devices that can track your sleep are not perfect, but they do give you an idea of how much sleep you are getting," Digre says. "For some people this is helpful, but for others it becomes an obsession."
Some prescription medications are helpful for people who have diagnosed conditions like migraine that prevent them from getting enough sleep. However, even for those with insomnia, Digre says the best treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy with a therapist who knows how to help people turn things off.
"That is really hard for some people to do because bedtime is when the worry gene kicks in and the busy gene kicks in, but you have to turn the brain off to get ready for sleep," Digre says.
The experts who have studied and constructed the concept of sleep capital argue it is more than an effort to highlight the importance of rest. It is part of a campaign to convince Americans to make getting a good night's sleep a priority and not an afterthought. Digre agrees: "We need to let people know how important sleep is to their lives. I don't think people realize that if you're not sleeping, your brain is not happy."
