Interesting Facts

According to researchers at the University of Surrey, lack of sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body. (Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function have all been linked to substandard sleep, and areas such as the immune system and how the human body responds to damage and stress were affected. I think I'll go back to bed.) Source

According to Roger Ekirch, professor of history at Virginia Tech we are all sleep-deprived. (Mr Ekirch, the author of At Day's Close: A History of Night-time, says that in the pre-industrial era, most people in Europe practised what he calls "segmented sleep": having "first sleep" from finishing work until midnight, waking to talk and socialise, then having a "second sleep" until dawn. I know a few teenagers who live like that.) Source

According to an article in the journal Sleep, missing out on a good night's sleep raises a woman's risk of heart disease. (Sleeping less than 8 hours a night has been linked to heart problems, but the risk is higher for women than for men. Which seems a bit unfair, as it's usually the man's snoring that keeps a woman awake.)

powered by ODEO According to a survey by the Sleep Council, many Brits check texts, surf the internet, or play games in bed. (I wonder what kind of games they actually meant.)

In a study sponsored by mobile phone companies, using a mobile before bedtime can delay you getting to sleep. (The study suggests that radiation from the handset can cause insomnia, headaches and confusion. I think it's more likely to be caused by the person on the other end.)

Total lack of sleep will kill you quicker than lack of food. (If you go 10 days without sleep you're toast, whilst starvation takes a few weeks. In fact if you go for more than three days without any sleep at all, you will lose orientation in place and time, you will hallucinate and eventually your body will begin to break down. The average human requires between seven and eight hours of sleep every night. This enables the body to repair and refresh itself in order to start the new day. If you try to burn the candle at both ends and don't get enough sleep, it will affect everything that you do. Mistakes can be made, accidents can happen and there is evidence of short-term memory. Good news for the over 60s is that you can get away with between five and six hours sleep.)