Sleep Science-Seven Myths About Sleep

  Seven myths about sleep

1. Can people not sleep?

There are currently several theories to explain the importance of sleep, one of which is that sleep is to rest the body and reduce energy consumption. During sleep, the lost cells of the body will begin to be repaired.

Another theory points out that during sleep, you will go through different cycles, and each cycle will have a different effect on the brain. The entire sleep cycle can include two major categories: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM).

When entering the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) period, as the brain waves become slower and slower, it gradually enters the deep sleep period. The deep sleep period is very important for the body's repair. If a person has enough sleep during the deep sleep period, he will feel that his body has enough rest when he wakes up.

Therefore, sleep is very important to the brain and to the various functions of the body.

2. How long is the best day to sleep?

Everyone is affected by genes, and the best hours of sleep are not the same. On average, a person sleeps for about 7 to 8 hours, but this number tends to be as society evolves, and sleep times tend to be shorter in more industrialized countries.

How long does it take to sleep? Not only depends on personal needs, but also from the influence of the social environment. The best standard depends on how you feel after waking up, whether you are in good spirits, your body feels relaxed, and whether your daily life will be affected after you wake up. .

3. What are the needs of different ages for sleep?

Generally speaking, children need more sleep because their bodies and brain cells are growing. Newborn babies sleep most of the day and have more REM cycles.

As you get older and older, your sleep time will get shorter and shorter. After the age of 18, the total amount of sleep required per day should be about the same.

Many people think that elderly people don't need to sleep for that long, but this is not quite right. The elderly need the same sleep as adults, except that their sleep becomes very shallow and easily interrupted, so they often need supplementary sleep during the day.

4. Is it healthy to go to bed and get up early?

Early to bed and early to rise are healthier, which is more correct for people over middle age, which is more in line with the menstrual cycle after middle age. Because after middle age, our melatonin will be secreted earlier and earlier, so we tend to go to bed earlier and get up early to make it more comfortable.

Whether staying up late will hurt your body depends on the situation. If your sleep time is different from social customs, it may affect the quality of sleep and cause you to lack sleep for a long time. This may hurt the body and cause health problems.

Therefore, whether it is early to bed, early to rise or late to bed, to wake up late, the important thing is that the sleep process will not be disturbed a lot, and it is best to be able to follow your own biological clock.

5. What are the consequences of long-term lack of sleep?

The most obvious consequence of lack of sleep is poor performance during the day and even accidents. Studies have found that long-term lack of sleep can cause inattention, affect immunity, and make it difficult to get better from illness. Recently, it has also been discovered that people with insufficient sleep have poor blood sugar control, are even more prone to obesity, and often have gastrointestinal diseases in digestion.

For children, lack of sleep will affect the growth hormone of the child, because the growth hormone of the child is secreted during the first third of sleep, so when the deep sleep period is not enough, the growth hormone will not be secreted.

Therefore, in addition to spiritual satisfaction, sleep has a great impact on physical health.

6. Is it sick if you always don't get enough sleep? Still have narcolepsy?

Always feel sleepless, it may be drowsiness. Drowsiness is not a disease, but a symptom of sleep disorders. The most common cause may be "sleep apnea", because snoring and hypoxia cause breathing interruption, sleep is interrupted and sleep is not enough. In addition, like "Limb Movement Disorder", the feet will twitch when sleeping. These limb movements will cause wake waves to run out of the brain, so sleep will be interrupted, and it is easy to not get enough sleep.
In addition, colds, viral infections, nasal congestion, arthritis, mental illness, chronic diseases, drowsiness caused by medication, etc., will make people sleep very shallow and not get enough sleep.

7. How about taking a nap?

According to foreign observations, children must take a nap. The younger they are, the more times they need to sleep. After they reach elementary school, they don’t have to take a nap. So, whether the nap is good or not is not sure yet.

If you are prone to poor energy in the afternoon, it is recommended to take a nap, but it is best not to take more than half an hour. Sleeping for more than two hours will make you more tired, because you will feel more tired when you enter the rapid eye movement period.