We need to change our attitude towards sleep
Discussion
Regular 10pm bedtime linked to lower heart risk - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59204831
Another study that shows how important sleep is to our health. Yet as a society we seem to ignore the importance of sleep on both our short term and long term health. It's seen as productive and admirable to be someone who can work late and get by on 3 hours sleep, and people who get a good 8 hours are seen as lazy and work shy. Thatcher and Reagan famously only had 3-4 hours sleep, both had Alzheimer's disease later in life.
Sleep should be seen as being as important as a healthy diet and regular exercise.
One study found that after 8 eight days of 5.5 hours of sleep or less each night, participants showed a 10-15% decrease in testosterone production on average. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC39553...
In the spring the change to daylight saving and loss of an hours sleep causes 24% increase in hospital heart attack admissions. An opposite trend happens in the autumn when the clock go back and we gain an hours sleep. https://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000019
Researchers reported that people who got 6 hours or less sleep per night were 30 percent more likely to develop dementia. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22354-2
We are the only species that restrict how much sleep we have and disrupt natural sleep patterns with artificial light and looking at screens when we should be winding down. How many of us will be asleep by midnight? The clue is in the name 'middle of the night'.
Another study that shows how important sleep is to our health. Yet as a society we seem to ignore the importance of sleep on both our short term and long term health. It's seen as productive and admirable to be someone who can work late and get by on 3 hours sleep, and people who get a good 8 hours are seen as lazy and work shy. Thatcher and Reagan famously only had 3-4 hours sleep, both had Alzheimer's disease later in life.
Sleep should be seen as being as important as a healthy diet and regular exercise.
One study found that after 8 eight days of 5.5 hours of sleep or less each night, participants showed a 10-15% decrease in testosterone production on average. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC39553...
In the spring the change to daylight saving and loss of an hours sleep causes 24% increase in hospital heart attack admissions. An opposite trend happens in the autumn when the clock go back and we gain an hours sleep. https://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000019
Researchers reported that people who got 6 hours or less sleep per night were 30 percent more likely to develop dementia. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22354-2
We are the only species that restrict how much sleep we have and disrupt natural sleep patterns with artificial light and looking at screens when we should be winding down. How many of us will be asleep by midnight? The clue is in the name 'middle of the night'.
I need 8hrs to function. I notice it dramatically if I don't. My alarm goes off at 0710 (thank god for WFM when it was 0610 before), so I am very aware of being lights off before 2310.
My OH and inlaws are Spanish, and they are regularly awake after midnight - all of them - during weekdays. They don't tend to wake quite as early as us, but still up before 0800. I don't know how they do it.
My OH and inlaws are Spanish, and they are regularly awake after midnight - all of them - during weekdays. They don't tend to wake quite as early as us, but still up before 0800. I don't know how they do it.
Jesus, even if I've had a heavy night and not slept much the night before there's no way I could go to bed before midnight. I'd just lie there awake. I clock off at 5pm so my evenings are important to me, my time if you like. By the time I've sorted my 5 year old out, had food, dishes, etc. there would be little time to actually enjoy my downtime if I had to go to bed for 10pm.
Well, I suppose tenuous biological correlations are more newsworthy than massive socioeconomic causation.
Next week, "Does Champagne contain the elixir of life? We discovered that people who occasionally drink Champagne live 10 years longer than people who regularly drink Special Brew. Are our bodies missing the essential Champagne we need for a long and healthy life?"
Next week, "Does Champagne contain the elixir of life? We discovered that people who occasionally drink Champagne live 10 years longer than people who regularly drink Special Brew. Are our bodies missing the essential Champagne we need for a long and healthy life?"
A Winner Is You said:
Biggy Stardust said:
JmatthewB said:
in the autumn when the clock go back and we gain an hours sleep.
I don't gain an hour's sleep- I have a cat.JmatthewB said:
Regular 10pm bedtime linked to lower heart risk - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59204831
... Thatcher and Reagan famously only had 3-4 hours sleep, both had Alzheimer's disease later in life....
Does it cause Alzheimer's as well as heart disease?... Thatcher and Reagan famously only had 3-4 hours sleep, both had Alzheimer's disease later in life....
Eat when you're hungry (note to self: not just when there's chocolate in the fridge), drink when you're dry, go to bed when you're tired (note to self: or fall asleep in your chair until your OH wakes you up calling you a d
head).We discussed this at work today where people have a wide array of approaches to sleep.
I have two kids, and before they go to bed I really don't feel like my time is my own. So as a result I quite often stay up later than I should. Usually doing something inane like watching Netflix or playing Call of Duty.
Before kids I didn't do this. I religiously pursued 8 hours sleep, always popping the light off to ensure I got it. But my eldest is nearly 12 and our youngest is just turning five so it's been a long time of disturbed sleep and sleep sabotage by myself.
I have two kids, and before they go to bed I really don't feel like my time is my own. So as a result I quite often stay up later than I should. Usually doing something inane like watching Netflix or playing Call of Duty.
Before kids I didn't do this. I religiously pursued 8 hours sleep, always popping the light off to ensure I got it. But my eldest is nearly 12 and our youngest is just turning five so it's been a long time of disturbed sleep and sleep sabotage by myself.
0ddball said:
Nice idea in theory, but if I went to bed at 10pm I'd literally have no life. 9pm-12am is adult time where everything is done and I get to sit and relax. Then up at 6 to start the daily grind again.
Fair play but I find sleeping pretty relaxing otherwise the day ahead is very difficult.GroundEffect said:
I need 8hrs to function. I notice it dramatically if I don't. My alarm goes off at 0710 (thank god for WFM when it was 0610 before), so I am very aware of being lights off before 2310.
My OH and inlaws are Spanish, and they are regularly awake after midnight - all of them - during weekdays. They don't tend to wake quite as early as us, but still up before 0800. I don't know how they do it.
I need roughly 7. It doesn’t happen straight away but my temperament and ability to work will slowly but surely deteriorate when I run on less. I’m generally asleep by 10:30 and up at either 6am or 7am depending on whether I’m going to the gym that day. My OH and inlaws are Spanish, and they are regularly awake after midnight - all of them - during weekdays. They don't tend to wake quite as early as us, but still up before 0800. I don't know how they do it.
My wife needs about 27 hours sleep a day as far as I can tell to maintain a good temperament, badum tish!
It wouldn’t surprise me if there are so many variations in circadian rhythms to mean that any average is meaningless info on it’s own.
Biggy Stardust said:
A Winner Is You said:
Biggy Stardust said:
JmatthewB said:
in the autumn when the clock go back and we gain an hours sleep.
I don't gain an hour's sleep- I have a cat.toon10 said:
Jesus, even if I've had a heavy night and not slept much the night before there's no way I could go to bed before midnight. I'd just lie there awake. I clock off at 5pm so my evenings are important to me, my time if you like. By the time I've sorted my 5 year old out, had food, dishes, etc. there would be little time to actually enjoy my downtime if I had to go to bed for 10pm.
Prepare to die young and/or get a terrible illness and then die young anyhow.It'll be interesting to see what I die of and if I ever do, for maybe the last 10 yrs and forever more I don't do it by the clock.
When I'm tired I sleep, when i'm awake and not tired I get up.
Don't burden yourself with all this crap you don't really need, just be.
As someone with DSPD, where my natural sleeping pattern is 4am to 11am if I allow myself to do so, these kind of articles are meaningless. The average is just that. There are a whole range of circadian rhythm patterns and disorders, from people who virtually cannot sleep at all, to those who sleep endlessly. I have spent my whole life being told I'm lazy for going to bed at 4am and rising at 11am (of a weekend), having had a whole seven indulgent hours between the sheets. The first to do this was my Father, a military man, who strictly went to bed at 9pm, lights out and was then up with the lark at 5am. I would occasionally pass him as a young teenager at 5am on my way to bed... I remember as a child I was a fanatical reader, and would be sent to bed at 9-10pm, where I would read books into the small hours. Eventually my Father had enough of this, and removed all the light bulbs from my room - so I smuggled in a torch and a supply of batteries, which displeased him enormously. I appreciate the importance of sufficient sleep, and for me I can run on 5 hours a night, but I'm better on 6 or more.
GroundEffect said:
I need 8hrs to function. I notice it dramatically if I don't. My alarm goes off at 0710 (thank god for WFM when it was 0610 before), so I am very aware of being lights off before 2310.
Same here. In bed around 11, sometimes earlier, asleep about 2 minutes later and knocking out the zeds until 7am. I need a good night's sleep to function properly.Evoluzione said:
Prepare to die young and/or get a terrible illness and then die young anyhow.
It'll be interesting to see what I die of and if I ever do, for maybe the last 10 yrs and forever more I don't do it by the clock.
When I'm tired I sleep, when i'm awake and not tired I get up.
Don't burden yourself with all this crap you don't really need, just be.
The jobs I’ve had in years gone by include working shifts including nights, and being a frequent flyer. I wish I still had the knack to sleep at any time any place anywhere in any chair. It has led me to think that it’s a skill you can develop and maintain rather than sleep patterns being a thing that there’s only one way of doing right, anyway past my bed time It'll be interesting to see what I die of and if I ever do, for maybe the last 10 yrs and forever more I don't do it by the clock.
When I'm tired I sleep, when i'm awake and not tired I get up.
Don't burden yourself with all this crap you don't really need, just be.
.roger.mellie said:
Evoluzione said:
Prepare to die young and/or get a terrible illness and then die young anyhow.
It'll be interesting to see what I die of and if I ever do, for maybe the last 10 yrs and forever more I don't do it by the clock.
When I'm tired I sleep, when i'm awake and not tired I get up.
Don't burden yourself with all this crap you don't really need, just be.
The jobs I’ve had in years gone by include working shifts including nights, and being a frequent flyer. I wish I still had the knack to sleep at any time any place anywhere in any chair. It has led me to think that it’s a skill you can develop and maintain rather than sleep patterns being a thing that there’s only one way of doing right, anyway past my bed time It'll be interesting to see what I die of and if I ever do, for maybe the last 10 yrs and forever more I don't do it by the clock.
When I'm tired I sleep, when i'm awake and not tired I get up.
Don't burden yourself with all this crap you don't really need, just be.
.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff