francene--blog. Year 2013
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Oct 10th

10/10/2013

 
Picturewww.barnowltrust.org.uk
Would an extra hour's sleep a night change your health? This sounds too good to be true.

The University of Surrey's Sleep Research Centre studied the effect of increasing average sleep by just one hour. They took forteen volunteers, who normally sleep anywhere between six and nine hours, and randomly allocated them to two groups.
One group was asked to sleep for six-and-a-half hours a night, the other got seven-and-a-half hours.
After a week the researchers took blood tests and the volunteers were asked to switch sleep patterns. The group that had been sleeping six-and-a-half hours got an extra hour, while the other group slept an hour less.

The John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford revealed what actually happens during sleep. At first, a preson experiences deep sleep. This sounds restful, but during those few hours the brain is working hard. One of the main things to happen is the brain moves memories from short-term storage into long-term storage, allowing more short-term memory space for the next day. If adequate deep sleep isn't achieved, these memories are lost. A person can't make up for lost sleep, because these memories will be lost.

This storage sounds remarkably similar to a computer program when you don't click 'save'.


Picturewww.zimescience.com
The next stage is REM sleep, during which an extraordinary thing happens. One of the stress-related chemicals in the brain, noradrenalin, is switched off. It's the only time, day or night, this happens. It allows a person to remain calm while their brains reprocess all the experiences of the day, helping them come to terms with particularly emotional events. More REM sleep comes in the last half of the night. This means that if a person is woken unexpectedly, their brain may not have dealt with all emotions, which could leave them stressed and anxious.

Drinking alcohol late at night is not a good idea as it reduces your REM sleep while it's being processed in your body. Well. Nothing new there. But some people refuse to listen to good advice.

After the sleep volunteers finished their second week of the experiment at the University of Surrey, the results of switching sleep times were astounding. When the volunteers cut back from seven-and-a-half to six-and-a-half hours' sleep a night, genes that are associated with processes like inflammation, immune response and response to stress became more active. The team also saw increases in the activity of genes associated with diabetes and risk of cancer. The reverse happened when the volunteers added an hour of sleep.


Picture
This experiment sends a clear message. If you are getting less than seven hours' sleep a night and can alter your sleep habits, even just a little bit, it could make you healthier. The advice to sleep more doesn't come along very often. And the excuse: It will make you healthier.

I'm lucky to sleep well. I get 8 hours a night, rarely varying the amount. I wake refreshed and eager to get on with my day. How about you?


DinoMama link
10/9/2013 07:49:24 pm

I get 7 hours of sleep daily, if I take a nap that day I can't sleep at my usual bed time, or even if I managed to fall asleep at the same time I will get up 3-4 hours later with eyes wide open and brain busy like mad.

This sleep pattern and number of snooze hours needed per day is a complicated thing :D

Francene Stanley link
10/9/2013 10:09:36 pm

Everyone seems to differ in their sleep needs. I wonder how they got the volunteers to sleep the exact amount of hours needed.

Kama link
10/9/2013 09:07:58 pm

I believe sleep or lack of can change our health. I need my 8 hours of sleep or I struggle to get through the day.

Francene Stanley link
10/9/2013 10:10:41 pm

I'm the same, although I'm inclined to nod off at inappropriate times. ;-)

Amy link
10/9/2013 10:21:44 pm

Francene,
I am guilty of pushing myself to "get by" on less sleep, just so I can get more things done. After reading this, I think I'll try to get a little more sleep in. Very fascinating!

Francene Stanley link
10/10/2013 03:13:56 am

So glad the news caught you in time, Amy. You're more precious to your family than all the gold in the world.

Elizabeth link
10/9/2013 11:31:11 pm

Wow who knew sleep had that much affect! Thank you for the insight!

Sail Away Girl

Francene Stanley link
10/10/2013 03:14:49 am

I suppose sleep had to be important for something. hehe.

Adelien link
10/10/2013 04:12:57 am

Wow, I think i need to improve my sleep pattern, quantity and quality. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate a lot. Nice to see you

TheGirl link
10/10/2013 01:01:59 pm

Yep, the power of sleep cannot be underestimated. I know doing those all nighters seem temping, but you'll suffer for it in the short run (functioning like a drunk person) and the long run. You know, I used to work an overnight job, and force myself to sleep through the day. I was very strict about it, its still not the same. People who work during the day are still healthier than night owls.


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    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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