17 Interesting Facts About Human Sleep

I'm still researching the topic of sleep for a series of articles I'm writing for my local newspaper. Recently I read a study published by the American National Sleep Foundation in 2008. Here are 17 fascinating facts from that study, facts that might make a difference to our perception of the importance of consistent sleep for optimal health. 

1. In general, most healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. However, some people are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. And others can’t perform at their best unless they’ve slept ten hours
2. Newborns sleep about 14 to 17 hours a day on an irregular schedule with periods of one to three hours spent awake. (This must refer to newborns in general, as I've heard many a new Mom's despair when her baby sleeps much less than she had been led to expect.)
3. When infants are regularly put to bed drowsy but not asleep, they are more likely to become "self- soothers," which lets them fall asleep independently at bedtime and soothe themselves back to sleep should they wake during the night.
4. Sleep is just as important to our wellbeing as diet and exercise.
5. Man is the only mammal that willingly delays sleep.
6. One of the primary causes of excessive sleepiness among Americans (and Canadians, I'd bet) is self-imposed sleep deprivation.
7. In general, regular exercise makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep. But we need to be careful; exercising sporadically or right before going to bed can make falling asleep more difficult.
8. Divorced, widowed and separated people report more insomnia. (Hmm, so those of us who live with a snorer can ditch that "solution.")
9. We naturally feel tired at two different times of the day: about 2:00 AM and 2:00 PM. This natural dip in alertness is primarily responsible for the "post-lunch dip."
10. Sleep is just as important to our health and wellbeing as diet and exercise.
11. According to the International Classifications of Sleep Disorders, shift workers are at increased risk for a variety of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.
12. Our bodies never adjust to shift work!
13. There are individual differences in our need to nap. Some adults and children need to sleep a few minutes at varying points in the day. However, the majority of teenagers probably want to nap in the afternoon because they are not sleeping enough at night.
14. Snoring is the primary cause of sleep disruption for approximately 90 million American adults; 37 million on a regular basis. (In our house that's true for the snorer and the partner of the snorer.)
15. According to the results of NSF's 2008 Sleep in America poll, 36 percent of American drive drowsy or fall asleep while driving. (Now that's downright scary!)
16. People who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have bigger appetites due to the fact that their leptin levels (leptin is an appetite-regulating hormone) fall, promoting appetite increase.  (So get regular, healthy sleep and lose weight!)
17. Rates of insomnia tend to increase as a function of age, but most often the sleep disturbance is attributable to some other medical condition.

As a person who lives with a chronic snorer and has chronic insomnia herself, I found some of these conclusions very hopeful.  When we understand what we are dealing with and the importance of changing what we can to give ourselves every chance of living well and happy, we are one step closer to becoming the best we can be at any stage of our lives.