How to Make an Article More Interesting and Readable

Applying Typography, Layout and Design Strategies to a Text

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Headings

What Causes Sleep?

Sleep-wake Homeostasis

Factors that Influence Sleep and Wakefulness

Sleep Phases and Stages

The Importance of Sleep

Healthy Brain Function and Emotional Well-Being

Physical Health

Sleep and Growth

Lists

Factors that influence a person’s sleep and wakefulness:

· Medical conditions

· Medications

· Stress

· Sleep environment,

· Foods and fluids consumed

· Exposure to light

Three Stages of Non-REM Sleep:

· Stage 1: The transition between wakefulness and sleep

· Stage 2: The initiation of the sleep phase

· Stage 3: The deep sleep or slow-wave sleep stage is based on a pattern that appears during measurements of brain activity. Individuals spend the most amount of sleep time in this stage during the early part of the night. (Note that the previously considered 4th stage of non-REM sleep is now included within Stage 3).

Why is Sleep Important?

· Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being

· Sleep helps the brain work properly

· Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke

· Sleep supports healthy growth and development.

Highlighting

Factors that influence a person’s sleep and wakefulness include medical conditions, medications, stress, sleep environment, and foods and fluids consumed, but the greatest influence is exposure to light.

Sleep deficiency has also been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking behavior.

Rationale in Support of Changes

Because sufficient sleep is a universal human need to ensure good health and development while a lack of sleep can cause significant mental and physical health issues, this article has widespread applicability -- but it needs some minor changes. For instance, the use of main headings helps readers to understand the material that follows. In some cases, readers may just want to learn about a specific factor which disrupts sleep that affects them personally. Likewise, parents and the elderly may be more interested in learning about the importance of sleep. In addition, the use of lists helps to quickly summarize the narrative that follows, and alerts readers to what to look for in the different sections. Finally, the use of highlighting in the selected examples above draws attention to this important guidance, most especially the main factors that can disrupt sleep and the implications of sustained sleep deprivation. In sum, these minor changes may benefit a non-specialist audience by facilitating their comprehension of the information and reinforcing the guidance that the article presents. Further, the headings and lists in particular can help increase interest on the part of non-specialist audiences to the extent that they may read more or even all of it despite only being interested in a specific topic at the outset.