The study published in Social Science & Medicine has found that 7-8 hours of sleep per night is ideal and anything less or more than that was “significantly associated” with these four diseases.

In fact, sleep problems are a stronger indicator of these diseases than other common predictors:

“In most cases, the relationships between short or long sleep duration and these four outcomes were even stronger than better-established predictors of these chronic metabolic/CVD outcomes.”

The study points out the need for sleep problems to be addressed in order to solve other health problems:

“Increasing the proportion of the population achieving 7-8 hours of daily sleep may reduce chronic disease risk in US
adults.”

Sleepio’s sleep expert, Professor Colin Espie commented on the findings:

“Although the amount we sleep may vary from person to person – some need more sleep than others – there appears to be significant health advantages to having a good nights sleep of 7 or 8 hours,” he said.

“Clearly sleep is not a trivial issue but an important predictor of disease; too little or too much poses a risk for serious illness.  For example, the association between short sleep or long sleep and cardiovascular disease is similar in magnitude to psychological distress – so it does play a huge role in our overall health.”

If you want to check how well you are sleeping, take the Great British Sleep Survey.  You may need to seek medical advice if you aren’t getting the optimal amount of sleep per night.

Read the full journal article here – Short and long sleep are positively associated with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease among adults in the United States

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“For the last ten years or so, I used to turn on my PC when I came home from school or work and shut it down again right before I went to bed. So most of the time when my PC is running, I’m awake. I’ve also been idling in IRC for as long as I had Internet – when my PC is running, so is my IRC client.”

Via datavisualisation.ch. Read more here.

You can, of course, check out the state of your own sleep (including an analysis of any insomnia you might be suffering) by taking 5 minutes to complete our Great British Sleep Survey. Okay, plug over!

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Last Friday night the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London was taken over for an all-night programme of sleep culture and science. Sleepio went along to check it out.

As darkness fell, a mob descended on the big red tent with a simple aim: to explore what sleep – and the lack of it – means to all of us. The Sleepover, a collaboration between the V&A and the Serpentine, and sponsored by Whole Foods and Harvey Nicks, attracted a thoroughly diverse crowd of art students and people who looked like their parents.

Handed a sleeping bag at the entrance we all settled in for a long night, fuelled by little else than coffee, the Review section of last week’s Observer (I imagine) and, as it turned out, big bowls of jelly trifle. The frisson sparked by outdoor sleeping was palpable; within moments every inch of the floor was claimed by sleeping bags and blue mats.

I settled in next to a friendly middle-aged couple, sat bolt upright in seats, determined to stay awake the whole night. Like queuing Wimbledon fans, their stoic acceptance of the painful wait ahead had given them an odd cheeriness. “It’s like a big performance. We’re all viewers but we’re also all performers. I can’t wait to see how I feel in the morning!”

The programme for the evening ran from 10pm right through to 7am, kicking off with a talk by psychoanalyst Darian Leader. Aside from revealing the plot of Inception in detail (I tried to cover my ears) his Freudian assertions about dreams left me shaking my head – pseudo-science presented in a weighty tone of empirical respectability, but shot through with wild leaps of logic and a glaring lack of evidence beyond the anecdotal. But then again his dislike for evidence-based therapies that actually work is well documented.

Marginally more empirical (and much more fun) was Dr Angelica Ronald’s collaboration with her artist brother, Lewis. Based on a survey of the audience’s sleeping habits they presented an analysis of the assembled. Turns out that artists report substantially less sleep deprivation than non-artists, and the sleep deprived get less ‘rompy pompy’.

A high point was the boiler-suited parade of trifle by les artistes du dessert, Bompas and Parr. They presented two delicious options: soporific or stimulating. Starving, I wolfed down several plates of each in an attempt to fill myself up whilst balancing the effects of each drug. But being a smartarse doesn’t pay; the one effect I hadn’t controlled for in my experimental gluttony was extreme nausea.

By 2am, full of trifle, I was starting to fade. I rifled through my Whole Foods snack pack, trying to find anything non-organic to give me a sugar hit, but to no avail. Pretty soon the minutes speeded up, hours ran together, sound installations merged with analysts’ talks. Eventually my self-imposed insomnia succumbed, I curled up in a free space beneath a spotlight amongst the rubbish-strewn floor and tried, fitfully, to grab some sleep.

I woke to the grey dawn over Hyde Park. Peter Brook’s 1963 version of Lord of the Flies was playing, lending a sinister air to the slow preparation of breakfast in front of the screen. Then the reference became clear, as middle class politeness strained to control the animal urges for fresh organic bread spreading through the crowd. Not quite a mutiny of sleepless savages but a fair amount of undignified dashing and some quite blatant queue-shuffling.

The middle-aged couple were still sat, wide-eyed, in exactly the position I’d left them in. “I’m really looking forward to getting into bed” said the man. He stared into my eyes with manic intensity. “That feeling of extending your legs under the duvet. Oh my God. Simply bliss!”

Breaking his gaze, I gathered myself to face the day ahead. Handed a pillowcase embroidered with my initials, containing a freshly-printed book of the night’s events (when did they manage to do that?) and grasping my Harvey Nicks Beauty Pack I wandered out, bleary eyed, into the drizzle.

What a weird and wonderful night.

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According to a report by GMTV, sleeping is more than just a luxury to be indulged on weekends.  It is actually essential in order to catch up on sleep you’ve missed out on during the week.

According to the research leader…”The additional hour or two of sleep in the morning after a period of chronic partial sleep loss has genuine benefits for continued recovery of behavioural alertness.”

The study involved restricting the sleep of 142 participants during the week then giving them a night of recovery sleep:

“One night of recovery sleep led to improvements as the sleep doses increased. But even after 10 hours in bed, sleep-restricted participants still had worse scores than the control group for attention lapses, poor reaction times, and fatigue.”

This shows that any kind of sleep in on the weekend is beneficial, and the longer the better.

“The bottom line is that adequate recovery-sleep duration is important for coping with the effects of chronic sleep restriction on the brain.”

While we think it’s important to always try to get enough sleep during the week, we definitely approve of weekend sleep-ins to help your body catch up.  And following it up with breakfast in bed also helps!

Read more – The weekend lie-in proves ‘vital to well-being’

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The latest news coming from Los Angeles County Jail is that poor Lindsay isn’t even allowed a pillow to sleep on!  Apparently celebrity status doesn’t get you everything.

As much as we think Lindsay probably needs to toughen up a bit, Sleepio does think she should be given a pillow.  The right pillow is essential for a good night’s sleep, and some of that would probably do Lindsay the world of good!

Read more – Lindsay Lohan doesn’t have a pillow to sleep on, says Dina

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We’ve all stayed up a bit later than normal watching a movie or browsing the internet, but a recent survey indicates that teens are doing this so often they are missing out on 1.5-2 hours of precious sleep every night.

An American teenager told the Chicago Tribune that a typical evening for him consisted of:

“He and five friends brought laptops to another friend’s house to play “World of War Craft” and other Internet games against each other. Around 4:15 a.m., one of the guys craved a milkshake, so they piled into two cars and drove around Carol Stream in search of an ice cream shop still open. An hour later, they were back at the friend’s house, slurping down their drinks while checking Facebook and playing Xbox until they fell asleep — cell phones by their sides — around 6:15 a.m.”

This kind of nighttime activity wouldn’t be a problem if it was only every now and then, but the problem is that many teens let technology keep them up late every night.

According to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, these teens are averaging 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night which is well short of the 9 hours recommended for the developing teen brain and body.

“A study published in the journal Pediatrics last year showed that teens kept up their activities late into the night. After 9 p.m., 82 percent of the high school students surveyed were watching TV, 55 percent were using a computer online and 44 percent were talking on the phone — with another 34 percent sending and receiving text messages. Of that group, only 21 percent got the 8 to 10 hours of sleep recommended.”

The consequences of this run far deeper than just being sluggish the next day, with lack of sleep contributing to poor classroom performance, obesity and depression in young people.

So teenagers, switch off that game console, log off Facebook, turn off your phone and get some rest!  The technology will still be there tomorrow and you’ll feel much happier and active after a good sleep.

Here at Sleepio, we are (obviously) big fans of the internet and technology but we don’t let it affect our sleep – we finish all our blogging and tweeting nice and early so we can get always good night’s sleep!

Read more - Wired and tired: Number of teens losing sleep to late-night technology use is enough to keep parents and researchers up at night

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Being with someone means sharing everything, right?  Well, everything except the bed it seems.

The New York Times recently reported that one quarter of American couples don’t sleep in the same bed or even in the same bedroom.  The article also says the figures are similar for English and Japanese couples too.

So why don’t we like to share our beds anymore?

“Separate sleepers cite a bevy of reasons for their habit, including apnea, restless leg syndrome, his insistence on watching “SportsCenter,” her need to get up early for yoga.”

For a lot of couples, separate beds is the only way they can get a good night’s sleep:

“What happened in the last decade,” said Dr. Meir Kryger, a sleep specialist at Gaylord Hospital in Connecticut, “is that people are suddenly making their own sleep a priority. If their rest is being impaired by their partner, the attitude now is that I don’t have to put up with this.”

Sleepio thinks this can definitely be a good thing – sharing a bed is great for intimacy and romance, but sleep deprivation can very quickly ruin a relationship!

Unfortunately there’s a stigma associated with not sharing a bed with your partner, but the reality is your bed should be a place where you can go for restorative, good quality sleep – and if that means it needs to be a separate room then so be it!

Read more – Married, but Sleeping Alone

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Now you can (in a completely non-creepy way), thanks to an American sleep research centre that is streaming their next sleep study live online.

In this study, sleep scientists will observe the sleep of snorer and sleepwalker Paul Balcerak to see if he has any sleep problems that need treating.

“It’s a public health issue that really doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves,” said Drew Symonds, a spokesman for Sleep Medicine Associates. “Sleep disorders are a little more serious than just snoring.”

As far as sleep studies go, this one is pretty standard…except for the fact that it will be streamed live online.  This strategy is designed to catch the attention of insomniacs who spend their nighttime hours online instead of sleeping.

Most of us wouldn’t like the thought of others seeing us snoring, talking and who knows what else while sleeping, but Paul is only a little bit freaked out by the live streaming:

“It’s definitely a little weird,” Balcerak said. “I mean, I volunteered — so I can’t say I’m too weirded out by it.”

Sleepio thinks this is a great idea for making sleep research more accessible and an excellent way to capture the attention of those that most need sleep help.  Good luck Paul!

Read more – Swedish patient wants you to watch him while he sleeps

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A newspaper article from Australia has just provided us with a whole heap of  interesting and odd sleep facts.  Enjoy!

• The longest, scientifically documented period without sleep is 11 days, by a 17-year-old American Randy Gardner

• A new baby typically causes parents to lose 400 to 750 hours’ sleep in the first year

• Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep but lie for REM sleep

• Scientists have not been able to replicate a study from 1998 showing that a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock

• REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like

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

The newspaper article also mentions that the University of Sydney and ABC Science are conducting a study into the sleep habits of Australians, looking into interesting stuff like sleepwalking and restless leg syndrome.  We’ll keep you posted on that one.

Source – Sleeping it off – Plenty of temptation for wordsmiths

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