Is it true that you can accustom the body less to sleep without harm to health?

There is an opinion that if you reduce the number of hours of sleep, after some time the body adapts to this and you will fully get enough sleep. We decided to check if this is so.

IN Internet Can find A lot articlesdedicated to how Sleep less Without harm to health. Users divided on blogs with their own experience, how they "Hack" Sleep and learned to get enough sleep in a short time. About this practice write On medical Portals, on sitesdedicated to a healthy lifestyle, on thematic resources About sleep problems. There are posts about it and in social networks.

It is believed that many outstanding historical personalities slept much less than the classic eight hours. So, Margaret Thatcher supposedly slept only four hours a day (although, by memories her assistants, she often dozed along the way somewhere in the back seat of her car), Nikola Tesla cost only two hours a day, and Leonardo da Vinci Used Polyphesic sleep mode (That is, I slept for 15 minutes every four hours, only an hour and a half a day). Is it really like this or is it just historical jokes - a topic for individual analysis. But is it really possible to sleep so little and remain awake and healthy?

Specialists of US Diseases Control Centers Recommend Adults sleep at least seven hours a day, children - more (depending on age). Human sleep consists of Of the two phases: slow and fast. They, in turn, are divided into three more stages. Each phase and stage of sleep includes changes in muscle tone, patterns of brain waves and eye movements. The body passes through all these stages from about four to six times every night, on average each cycle lasts 90 minutes. If you reduce sleep time, go through all these stages will not work and the body will not fully rest.

Nevertheless, scientists of the University of California found out, What mutations Some genes really allow their carriers to sleep for only four to six hours without harm to health and cognitive functions. However, the researchers note, these mutations are extremely rare, only one person out of 4 million, so it is not worth counting on the fact that it is you - the same “mutant” who is enough for a full sleep for four hours.

At the same time, we tend to overestimate the amount of time we spent in a dream. So, if from the moment we went to bed, six hours passed to the alarm clock, we spent a little less in a dream. This confirmed The results of the study, during which the subjects were interviewed about the time of their sleep, and then compared this subjective assessment with the results Actigraphy (Method for registering motor activity for measuring sleep time and wakefulness). That is, if we consciously reduce the number of hours of sleep, thinking that five or six are enough for us, in fact the body rests even less.

If you sleep regularly for several hours a day, after some time you can really appearWhat are you used to this: first, daytime drowsiness will grow, and then it will go to the plateau and you can perceive it as an adaptation of the body. However, this does not mean at all that he will not suffer from a lack of sleep, just subjectively it will not be so noticeable to you.

Specialists of the Souncil Research society conducted experiment: They took 10,000 people and invited them to pass 12 well -proven cognitive tests. Those who slept less recommended eight hours showed significantly worst results in tests related to logic and verbal skills. The short -term memory was not affected. It is worth noting that those who slept much more than eight hours had similar results. We are already Tried It is true that it is harmful to sleep that it is too harmful, but the scientific community has not yet come to a consensus on this subject.

Review of the research of the consequences of sleep deficiency testifiesthat in the long run, lack of sleep can lead to hypertension, increase cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and obesity, type 2 diabetes and even cancer (although there are cancer research, refuting the connection of the duration of sleep and cancer, so this is a controversial question so far). Also some specialists They thinkthat regular sleep less than six hours by 30% increases the risk of dementia in old age compared to seven -hour sleep.

Technologies are not on the spot, and today there are several types on sale devices, which are put on the head before bedtime, track the phases of sleep during the night and send sound signals that allow these phases to regulate. Experts note that this is still not a replacement for full night sleep, but with the help of such gadgets you can partially smooth out the short-term negative consequences of lack of sleep for those who for some reason cannot or do not want to sleep seven hours. However, there are no evidence that in the long run, these devices can reduce the risks of lack of sleep for health.

Matt Walker, professor of neurobiology of the University of California in Berkeley, claimsthat the percentage of people who are able to sleep for less than six hours a day without prejudice to health is zero. It also recalls that all the main killer diseases in developed countries: Alzheimer's disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, depression-have a direct and very strong connection with a lack of sleep.

The researcher and popularizer of science Alexei Guise conducted a two -week experiment: He slept no more than four hours a day, and then passed several tests for cognitive functions and sharpness of the reaction. It turned out that partial sleep deprivation did not affect his cognitive abilities - at least the tests did not show any difference. At the same time, he notes that it was difficult for him to maintain such a mode of sleep and wakefulness and periodically he fell into a dream for several minutes, that is, the body did not occur. The author notes that the results of his experiment cannot be considered representative and fair for other people. In addition, they do not give any data on the long -term consequences of this sleep regime.

It is worth noting that most of the long -term studies of the connection of various diseases and lack of sleep are correlation studies, that is, those that study the interdependence of lack of sleep and diseases. However, it is difficult to say for sure that in this case, and what is a consequence is difficult. Perhaps it is precisely the predisposition, for example, to dementia and leads to sleep disturbances, and not vice versa.

It is worth saying about Polyphen mode A dream, which is believed, adhered to Leonardo da Vinci. There is absolutely no evidence that he has at least some advantages over the usual monophasic sleep, when we sleep the due one in a row, and in terms of side effects it is not very different from the complete deprivation of sleep. Experts recommend switching to this mode only if an alternative is not to sleep at all.

Thus, if you sleep for a long time less than the recommended time, daytime drowsiness and fatigue will intensify only in the first days, and then go to the plateau, that is, at some point your body really in a sense adapts to a lack of sleep and it may seem to you that you are used to sleeping less. However, this is a subjective sensation, your body will still not receive enough rest, which in the long run can lead to serious health problems. At the same time, to investigate the long -term consequences of many years of lack of sleep in laboratory conditions, that is, to force some people to sleep for four hours for years, and others, and then compare their state of health, is impossible at least for reasons of medical ethics. Therefore, some experts subject the results of studies indicating the relationship of lack of sleep and deadly diseases, doubt.

Most likely not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that you can sleep for lack of sleep in previous days?
2. Is it true that too much sleep is harmful?
3. Is it true that sleeping in the light is harmful?
4. Is it true that sleeping at sunset is harmful to health?