You Can’t Cheat Sleep

Posted on

By Robert Kriss

Dr. Phyllis Zee, Chief of the Sleep Medicine at Northwestern Hospital, warned the audience at Horner Park on Wednesday, August 15, that we cheat sleep at our peril. Dr. Zee’s excellent presentation was the first instance of C2ST’s collaboration with the Chicago Park District in the “Science in the Parks” series. Watch the video here.

Dr. Zee explained that three scientists recently shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in the early 1980’s identifying the genes and protein molecules that drive our twenty-four-hour biological clocks, often referred to as our “circadian rhythm.” Every cell in our bodies has the clock mechanism, and all these clocks are coordinated by the master clock in our brains. The mechanism interacts with light and dark. It keeps us awake and productive (usually) during the day and early evening, and puts us to sleep at night to rejuvenate our systems for another day.

Most of us need seven to nine hours of sleep at night, although some of us can function well with as little as six. But if a person consistently gets less than six hours of sleep at night, they will function at the level of someone who is legally drunk. And they won’t even know it. In fact, sleep-deprived individuals often think they’re performing at the top of their game when, in fact, they’re a danger to themselves and others.

You may think you can cheat on sleep during the work week and make up for it on the weekend. Wrong. It takes more than a weekend of extended sleep to restore you to your optimal performance level, and poor performance is not the only result of sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep has been linked to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and dementia. Attempting to catch up on the weekends may not reverse the cell damage caused during the week.

You may also think that you can train yourself to need less sleep. The research is mixed on this point. Some scientists say a person has a built-in minimum requirement that cannot be significantly changed on a consistent basis. Other scientists say that some, but not all, people can train to reduce the amount of sleep they need, but we’re still talking about a minimum in the neighborhood of six hours. Considering the long-term adverse health effects resulting from too little sleep, it may be better to be safe than sorry. Or at least consult with a sleep specialist such as Dr. Zee before you embark upon a lean-sleep lifestyle.

So how can you determine if you’re sleep deprived? As mentioned above, sleep-deprived people may subjectively feel that they’re doing great when they’re actually doing poorly. One objective way to test is to sleep in on the weekend and compare the time you get up without an alarm clock to the time you usually set your clock for during the week. If the difference is more than two hours, you may not be getting enough sleep during the week.

Dr. Zee also offered a few tips to help people get the sleep they need. She has many more ideas that she can offer in a one-on-one setting. But as a general matter, exercise in the afternoon is good. In any event, avoid exercising within three hours of bedtime. Also, avoid bright lights within three hours of going to bed, particularly the blue light transmitted by computers, phones, and other electronic screens. Late night coffee is also bad. Naps during the day can be fine, but if you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, maybe stop the naps and see what happens. Bottom line though, if you’re having sleep problems, it’s best to see a specialist. The Internet is a helpful start in addressing sleep issues, but it’s no substitute for customized, expert advice.

Dr. Zee’s work is an excellent example of how science can improve our lives. Sometimes you can’t just trust your gut feelings. You need to conduct a few tests, record results accurately and honestly, and learn the facts. We now know we have built-in, genetically driven clocks that we can’t tinker with too much. Understanding what makes us tick will help us keep ticking along happily for many more years.

 

 

Related posts:

  1. Climate Change’s Donald Scavia’s Biography
  2. FRACKING – the quest for energy independence
  3. Synopsis of “The Neuroscience of Addiction”
  4. Artificial Wombs: From Science Fiction to Reality

Share

Share

85 thoughts on “You Can’t Cheat Sleep”

  1. It’s perfect time to make some plans for the long run and it’s
    time to be happy. I have read this put up and if I may
    I want to recommend you some attention-grabbing issues or tips.
    Perhaps you can write next articles relating to this article.
    I want to learn more things approximately it!

  2. Hi there! This blog post could not be written much better!
    Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He constantly kept preaching about this. I will send this information to him.

    Pretty sure he’s going to have a good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

  9. Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Internet
    explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility
    but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design look great though!
    Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Many thanks

  12. naturally like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very bothersome to inform the truth on the other hand I will certainly come again again.

  13. Hi, I do think this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to revisit yet again since I
    book marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way
    to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.

  17. I do not even understand how I ended up right here,
    but I assumed this submit was great. I don’t understand who you might be however definitely you’re going to a well-known blogger should you aren’t already.
    Cheers!

  19. Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your web site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you’ve on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched all over the place and simply could not come across. What a great web site.

  27. Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such fantastic info being shared freely out there.

  33. you’re in point of fact a excellent webmaster. The website loading pace is incredible. It kind of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve done a great activity in this topic!

  35. of course like your web-site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to inform the truth then again I will surely come again again.

  40. I am really enjoying the theme/design ofyour weblog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues?A handful of my blog readers have complained about my blognot operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.Do you have any advice to help fix this problem?

Leave a Reply