Abstract
Sleep — how seriously do we need to take it?
There is a perception that time spent asleep is time wasted. Anecdotally one hears of people sleeping no more than 3–4 h per night with no apparent ill effects. As tempting as a short sleep regime sounds, we know that sleep is critical for survival. In 1983 Rechtschaffen and colleagues showed that rats developed pathology and died within 14 to 21 days of total sleep deprivation.1
Data accumulated over the past 40 years from prospective cohort studies indicate higher all-cause mortality rates among people who sleep either less than 6 h or more than 9 h per night.2 We also know that sleep loss affects neurobehavioural performance, metabolism and obesity, and psychological health
There is a perception that time spent asleep is time wasted. Anecdotally one hears of people sleeping no more than 3–4 h per night with no apparent ill effects. As tempting as a short sleep regime sounds, we know that sleep is critical for survival. In 1983 Rechtschaffen and colleagues showed that rats developed pathology and died within 14 to 21 days of total sleep deprivation.1
Data accumulated over the past 40 years from prospective cohort studies indicate higher all-cause mortality rates among people who sleep either less than 6 h or more than 9 h per night.2 We also know that sleep loss affects neurobehavioural performance, metabolism and obesity, and psychological health
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-2 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 23 Feb 2016 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0]http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0