Dreamers Wanted - Sleep Pattern

FAQ
On average, people aged 50 to 85 sleep about 6 hours per day.

An estimated 30 to 60 million Americans suffer chronic sleeplessness. Over 50% of men and women over age 65 complain of at least one chronic sleep problem.

FAQ
Getting only four hours sleep instead of eight will radically change glucose tolerance and endocrine function - changes that resemble the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes - after less than one week.

FAQ
Two tablets of Excedrin contain 130 mg of caffeine, almost the same amount as a cup of coffee. (If you have trouble sleeping, you might want to check the label of any medications you're taking -- even non-prescription ones.)

Sleep Patterns Determine Your Health
While the rest of the world runs full speed, we still live in a very primitive body, within which resides a biological clock that influences the activity of every single cell. Blood sugar, hormone levels, metabolic rates, body temperature, sodium/potassium levels, and immune function are just a few of the things directly linked to the body's internal clock. Altering your biological clock can have a drastic impact on your health.

Poor sleeping habits can have a direct influence, not only on the quality, but also on the length of your life. There is a direct link between sleep and problems like heart disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, viral infections, ulcers, indigestion, muscular pain, strokes, asthma, headaches, and even fatal car crashes.

Our own National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that over 100,000 automobile crashes each year are related to drowsy driving. Even more shocking are their latest figures showing that traffic accidents caused by drowsy driving now kill more young people than alcohol-related accidents.

Human Performance and Sleep Patterns
British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

The Hazards of Low Melatonin
Melatonin levels begin to rise a couple of hours before bedtime, helping to bring on sleep. They continue to rise until they peak, usually between 2 and 4 a.m. Then they gradually fall as we get closer to awakening.

But most people don't know that adequate levels of melatonin are not just related to healthful sleep patterns. They have also been associated with a decreased risk of certain forms of cancer, particularly breast cancer. Lower levels of melatonin have also been linked to bulimia, depression, fibromyalgia, nerve pain (neuralgia), and possibly prostate cancer, insulin resistance, and glucose tolerance. (Current Top Med Chem 02;2(2):113-32) (Maturitas 02;4 I Suppl 1:85-104)