A recent study suggests humans need nine to ten hours of
sleep, rather than the typical eight hours stereotype, to perform optimally.
"Nine hours is better," Wayne State University
psychology professor Diana Gant said this week. "I know not everyone agrees with me,
but that's what I keep finding. Think of sleep like exercise. People exercise
because it's healthy. Sleep is healthy."
Gant's research points to lack of sleep as a potential
reason for major disasters such as the space shuttle Challenger, the accident
at Russia's Chernobyl nuclear reactor and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
"The element of sleeplessness was involved in all of
them, at least contributed to all of them, and maybe — probably — caused all of
them," Gant said. "The press focused on the possibility that the
captain of the Exxon Valdez was drunk, but undershifting and long shifts on the
ship may have led to the third mate's falling asleep at the wheel."
Gant said she has found that certain times of the year also play a
role in the connection between sleeplessness and accidents. Through laboratory
studies and statistics, she has discovered a link between car accidents after
daylight savings.
"There's an 8 percent increase in accidents the day
after the time change," she said. "There's a corresponding decrease
in accidents in the fall when people gain an extra hour of sleep."
Gant has been working on research involving sleep for over
17 years and believes some decide to pass up sleep because it's the "big,
sophisticated, macho thing to do," she said.
Gant said there are some things to keep in mind when trying
to get the best out of someone's sleep. She said it’s important to have a dark
and quiet place to sleep, avoid eating and drinking before bed, relax for an
hour before bed by either reading a book or watching TV and avoid tobacco,
coffee and alcohol.
Lastly, she said to make sure to have a peaceful and comfy place before you starting snoring out some z's.
"Get a comfortable bed, and keep your bed linens clean
and fresh," she said.
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Here's another strong example:
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Here's another strong example:
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A recent study from Wayne State
University reveals that people are not getting enough sleep.
Diana Gant, a psychology professor of 17 years, found that while the optimal
quantity of sleep is nine to ten hours, the public average is seven.
"Going without enough sleep
is as much of a public and personal safety hazard and going to work
drunk," she said today.
Gant has studied sleep since
graduate school, she said, and wrote both her thesis and her dissertation on
the subject. Her interest started in a study in which subjects slept in quiet,
dark rooms and invariably logged about nine hours each.
Famous examples of the danger of
sleeplessness, Gant says, can be found in disasters like the Chernobyl
explosion, the space shuttle Challenger, and Exxon Valdez. In the last of
these, Gant found that "undershifting and long shifts on the ship may have
led to the third mate falling asleep at the wheel."
She said the public's sleep
deprivation has to do with ideals of sophistication and machismo.
"They
figure they don't need it, that the rules don't apply to them, that they can
get more done," she said. "It may work for them for a while, but
sooner or later they being to suffer the consequences."
In fact, Gant said when
people get up just an hour early, they suffer the equivalent of a national jet
lag. This is most evident on the day of the daylight time changeover in the
spring, when car accidents increase by 8 percent.
Gant's recommendations for a
good night's sleep? She begins with someplace that's dark quiet, and cool
(about 65 degrees), with the lights off and the shades drawn. Next, Gant
recommends an hour's relaxation with a good book or some TV. Eating or drinking
in excess, or smoking at all, must be avoided, she said.
Finally, Gant said she recommends a
comfortable bed and clean, fresh linens.
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