Sleep deprivation is listed as a factor of cancer by the WHO. An average teenager should have at least 8-10 hours of sleep every night. However, the average sleeping time is only 7 hours per day for a teenager. Lack of sleeping time can cause risks in all aspects, including mood changes, diabetes, and troubles in concentration.

The Harms of Staying Up Late
Short-term sleep deprivation can lead to a series of health concerns, such as the following:

Trouble with Thinking and Concentration
Lack of sleep can lower the alertness and ability to concentrate. Therefore, it is harder to perform tasks involving logical reasoning and analysis. This might increase the rate of traffic accidents.

High Blood Pressure
Sleeping less than five hours a night can lead to increased blood pressure, which is especially dangerous to elders.

Risks for Diabetes
The release of insulin, the control for sugar, is deterred due to the lack of sleep. This can cause higher blood sugar levels and increased risks for diabetes.

Long-term deprivation of sleep can lead to sudden death. The body stays in a stringent state due to the lack of sleep, which prevents the immune system from recovering. The burden of keeping the functions of the body is laid on the heart. While the short-term consequences might not be conspicuous, the accumulating stress in the long-term can cause sudden death. Research has shown that animals, when restrained from sleeping, have increased ROS (reactive oxygen species) in their gut, which leads to premature death directly. Deprivation of sleep will eventually become deprivation of life.

What Can be Done to Mitigate the Harms of Staying Up Late?
Take a Nap and Prepare a Cup of Coffee Before Staying Up Late
A nap and a cup of coffee can maintain the oxygen level of the brain, thus keeping the brain conscious during the night. However, large consumption of caffeine can build up tolerance, which reduces its long-term effectiveness.

Avoid Sweet Snacks
Although sweet food sounds like a wonderful midnight snack to boost energy, it actually drains the vitamin B in the body and lays the burden on the stomach and gut.

Exercising
Working during the night can lead to chronic diseases such as cervical diseases. Stretching and exercising can reduce the stress.

How Do You Fight Insomnia?
Deprivation of sleep might also lead to inferior sleeping quality and insomnia. Insomnia is a painful experience which causes fatigue during the day. Besides taking tablets, there are several ways to fall asleep:

4-7-8 Breath Technique
This is a technique invented by Havard professor Dr. Andrew Weil. It leads the body to the sleeping mode by controlling the breathings. This technique is able to induce drowsiness in 1 minute.

1. Exhale completely through the mouth.
2. Close the mouth and inhale quietly through the nose. Keep inhaling for 4 seconds.
3. Hold the breath and count 7 seconds.
4. Exhale completely and count 8 seconds.
5. Repeat this cycle for 4 times.

Meditation
Meditation is a great way to relax mentally. While laying in the bed, one can listen to meditation music and create a “loop of focus”. First, focus on the fingertip and say “my finger is relaxing” in the head. Then move on to the arm, shoulder, and back. Once all components of the body have been mentioned, one loop is completed. Usually, 3 loops are enough to drive one to sleep.