Facts About Sleep

A rainy late evening, a bed by the window and a cozy warm blanket! What else can one ask for? Sleep maybe, for insomnia doesn’t seem that uncommon these days! Today, people slog themselves hard and tire out their nerves to the maximum just to get a good night sleep. However, most people that you would meet would complain of lack of sleep. Do you wonder why? This is because they have convinced themselves that sleeping is a luxury they cannot afford. After LCDs, play stations and MP3 players replacing the need to make friends, the idea of technology has taken a step further and invaded our bedrooms. The world now thinks that sleeping’s a waste of time and that the time spent on the bed would be better spent making money or doing something that’ll later lead to making money. Crazy, isn’t it? And then there is the other school-of-thought that believes in sleeping every spare minute of life. This school is considered lazy, impractical and unworthy. And what would happen when these two extreme sects of people meet? Though you can be sure of fireworks, one thing that would definitely stand out is the need for ‘balanced sleep’. In the following lines, we have provided some interesting and fun facts about sleep. Read to doze off correctly!

Interesting & Fun Facts About Sleep

If you were of the opinion that during sleep, brain rests, it is time for some revelation. Actually it’s just your body that relaxes. Your brain stays active and takes care of breathing and related hormonal activities. However, since the brain does not have to go through the constant stress of thinking, you get up refreshed and recharged.
An adult human being requires 7-9 hours of sleep daily. The sleep requirement may vary a little depending upon an individual’s age, but the average can be safely assumed at 8 hours.
A false myth that is doing the rounds is the fact that achievers don’t sleep. Achievers may seem all hunky-dory on less sleep, but they are, in fact, sleep deprived. Did you know that wakefulness for 18 hours at a stretch is similar to being legally drunk?
Human bodies tend to process and digest sugar while sleeping. Hence, lack of sleep increases the probability of diabetes in people.
Sleep deprived bodies experience higher levels of stress hormones which lead to hypertension. The craving for fast foods and other junk-stuff has been found to be higher in sleep deprived bodies, which makes lack of sleep a major factor for causing obesity.
Sleep happens to be a very good way of working out on things or resolving matters that have gone bad. Scientific experiments on people prove the fact that sleep improves memory; relaxes people and helps them come up with better solutions.
Power naps during the day time improve memory and enhances work efficiency. They also cut the risk of heart disease. The next time you feel sleepy in the afternoon, know for sure that your brain needs recharging.
Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived enough to feel sleepy all day. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes.
The Guinness Book of Record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes. The holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory lapses.
Body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. This is why hot summer nights cause restless sleep while cool winter months result in cozy good night sleep.
For parents-to-be, here is a bad news. A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year. So, be prepared that the little bundle of joy would bring with it lost sleep as well.
Studies suggest that women need up to an hour's extra sleep every night as compared to men. Not getting it is one of the reasons as to why women are much more susceptible to depression than men.
If you thought that the person sitting next to you is awake, think again! Research has proved the fact that people can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it. So, it is ideally impossible to say if someone is awake or not, even if his eyes are widely open.

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