Sleep loss

Sleeping in on Saturday after a few weeks of too little shuteye may feel refreshing, but it can give a false sense of security.

New research shows chronic sleep loss cannot be cured that easily. Scientists teased apart the effects of short and long-term sleep loss and found that the chronically sleep-deprived may function normally soon after waking up, but experience steadily slower reaction times as the day wears on, even if they had tried to catch up the previous night.

It is work with important safety implications in an increasingly busy society, not just for shift-workers but for the roughly one in six Americans who regularly get six hours or less of sleep a night.

"We know that staying awake 24 hours in a row impairs performance to a level comparable to a blood-alcohol content beyond the legal limit to drive," said lead researcher Dr Daniel Cohen of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Getting enough sleep?

Fonte: aqui.

Dormir diminui a possibilidade de obesidade

Fonte: aqui.

Há estudos para tudo. Agora, aparece-nos um estudo dos Archives of General Psychiatry, que nos refere que as crianças que dormem menos, são mais sensíveis ao junk food e logo também têm mais possibilidade de virem a ficar obesos:

• children who skip hours of sleep double their overall risk of being overweight, or obese.
• The basic premise is that children and adults who do not get enough sleep are more likely to snack on junk foods, and also have far less energy, meaning they are less likely to take part in regular exercise.
• They found that children are better off in terms of sleeping when they can have a regular time for bedtime, and waking up.

Ou seja, é importante dormir bem.