FACTS ABOUT SLEEP

The luminous rays from a digital clock can sometimes be enough to disrupt your sleep. The light causes the neurons in your brain to decline the levels of key sleep chemicals that allow you to remain asleep during the night.

Humans will die from a lack of sleep much sooner than from starvation. A person will die in approximately 10 days from a lack of sleep, but it would take several weeks for someone to die of starvation. 

We burn more calories when we are sleeping than we do when we are watching television.

Scientists have discovered that women need at least an hour more of sleep than men. Not getting the extra hour may be the reason that they are more prone to depression. Gender is also related to another known sleep fact. Apparently, men dream about men 70 percent of the time; women dream of gender equally.

Masturbate- While this may seem a little odd, having an orgasm can actually help you sleep. This is just because after you reach a climax, your muscles relax and endorphins are released into your brain, allowing you to enter a blissful state and slip into sleep a little more easily. With that said, having sex can have the same result, as long as you climax.Scientists believe that we dream because we want to continue remembering the things in our long-term memory stores that are worth remembering. Some scientists believe we dream about things worth forgetting for the sake of forgetting them. Apparently, scientists believe that by dreaming about the memorable times and dreaming about the forgettable times, we fix our memory stores to reflect a pleasant life experience.

Twelve percent of people dream in black and white. This percentage used to be higher before the advent of color television.

Apparently, one of the biggest existing sleep deterrents is the Internet. It seems that we are not shutting our computers down in enough time to get a decent amount of sleep. I think we all knew about this one. Time seems to go by so fast when you are sitting in one place staring at a monitor, doesn’t it? 

Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analogs to watching a film. 

After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough. 

A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal.

Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

Daytime naps improve memory and cut the risk of heart disease.

To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

The world’s record for the longest time without sleep is exactly 18 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes. The record holder experienced hallucinations, blurred vision, slurred speech, concentration lapses and problems with memory. We’re guessing that this particular record is not going to be broken anytime soon due to the less than desirable symptoms it can cause.

The phrase sleep tight began when mattresses were placed on ropes that were woven within the bed frame. Of course, this was long before the box spring was invented. When the ropes were loose, people used a key to tighten them. Sleeping with the ropes in a tightened position was more comfortable because it supported the mattress.

In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.

As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

Being sleepy is just like being drunk! If you lose 2 hours of sleep, you can impair your performance equalling .05 blood-alcohol level.

Five minutes after the end of the dream, 50% of the content is forgotten, after ten minutes 90% is forgotten.

Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.

Being overweight increases the risk for sleep apnea.

Studies have identified common reported themes in dreams including situations relating to school, being chased, sexual experiences, falling, arriving late, death, teeth falling out, flying and car accidents .

Everybody dreams. But some people do not remember their dreams .

Dreams usually run in 90-minute cycles during sleep .

Shift workers are 2 to 5 times more likely than employees with regular, daytime hours to fall asleep on the job.

During REM sleep we are almost totally paralysed. Only the diaphragm and muscles of the intestines, heart, blood and eyes are not affected by this paralysis.

REM sleep starts about 90 minutes after we fall asleep

REM sleep occurs in bursts throughout the night, adding up to about 2 hours of REM sleep per night in total

REM dreams are usually fantastic or bizarre

The most popular sleeping positions are foetus (41%), Log (15%), Yearner (13%), Soldier (8%), Freefaller (7%), Starfish position (5%) and all other sleeping positions account for 11%.