Pay Back Your Debt to Sleep - Researchers Warn

Know More: pay back debt, research on sleep, sleep deprivation, sleep problems

In Harvard Health Publications I was intrigued by the study Countering the effects of chronic sleep loss. Surprisingly more than 60% of us don’t sleep the brain’s required seven to nine hours of sleep per night. So what do we do?

To ward off the negative effects of sleep loss – experts tell us repay our sleep debts. Do you agree?

We hear often of workplace disasters caused by tired workers. Sleep loss also takes a huge bite out of the mind as well as the body’s well being.

Researchers grouped healthy men and women, ages 21 to 38, to sleep different amounts nightly— into those who slept eight, six, or four hours per night. Another group didn’t sleep at all for three nights in a row.

Nobody in the study slept during their day. Think it would add to crankiness where you work?

Every two hours during the day, all participants completed sleepiness quizzes and showed reaction times, memory capability, and cognitive acumen.

It likely will not surprise you that those without sleep scored far less than those who slept well. What may surprise you - is that lost sleep can be repaid to your health account.

Based on this study - Harvard Women’s Health Watch recommended that people missed 10 hours of sleep over one week, make up for it over the weekend and during the following week. How so?

To repay short term deficits of sleep missed during a week – it's advised to sleep in on weekends. Both days!

Those who missed sleep over years or decades, might take a few weeks to repay their sleep debt. Researchers suggested that this group may wish to plan a vacation with no schedule, and then sleep every night until you awaken without an alarm.

Not surprisingly, they also suggested that people determine how much sleep they need to awaken well, and then make alterations in the weekly schedule to avoid regular sleep loss. In so doing people can often avoid depression, and other serious risks that come from too little sleep.

Another alarm just sounded on this one. What do you think? ZZZZZZZZ Let us know in the morning, Ok? ....

Ellen, having recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea, I can tell you that not getting enough sleep can ruin your life. I didn't realize how miserable I actually was until I got my CPAP machine and started feeling alive again. I forgot what being really awake felt like. I feel like myself again and like I have a life I enjoy waking up to.
Linda

Posted by: Linda Zdanowicz | July 16, 2007 7:58 PM | Permalink to Comment

Ellen,

I'm surprised (maybe not) that there isn't a boatload of comments on this one.

1. I'm watching entire populations of corporate client groups not taking vacation time. The reasons are usually fear of being seen as not committed or being asked not to take time by their bosses. These are tired populations.

2. The same people are working longer hours. They are not, for the most part, getting decent physical exercise. Which means they might be mentally tired but they probably aren't getting REM sleep because:

3. They go home late and get up early. They lack physical exhaustion and mental downtime.

4. Each client group that I am visualizing belongs to a well-know, global corporation. Health benefit costs are increasing and some, if not all, are tied to the claims submitted by the company. There does not appear to be a purposeful cause-and-effect view of the situation. My hypothesis is not evidence-based, I admit; but based on all that we know about wellness, it's not much of a stretch to seriously consider a correlation between rest, wellness, and health costs.

I believe that conventional wisdom would say that one cannot really "catch up" on lost sleep. If the opposite is true, it would seem that a corporate initiative such as "Recapture Your Rest" would be a worthwhile undertaking. I can see a workshop, mandatory (non-punitive!) vacation days, and related activites.

Waddya think?

Posted by: Steve Roesler | July 18, 2007 11:13 AM | Permalink to Comment

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