WHY WE SLEEP

There is a new pandemic in town, and this time it's not COVID. Seriously. I can't stop talking about stuff I've been reading in this book with people around me. Sleep is as universal as concepts get - and yet, it's crazy how little we know about something we spend 1/3 of our lives doing. Here's a little something about me. I've had a peculiar sleep schedule for the past couple years, staying awake almost all the way through the night. And sleeping an average of 6 hours. Now, if you'd ask someone, they would point to the former as the unnatural pattern. Early to bed and early to rise is the mantra, is it not? And 6 hours doesn't seem TOO bad for a night of sleep, right? Turns out, both of the things couldn't be more wrong. By sleeping any less than 8 hours a day, I was potentially shaving 10 years off my life, of what would have would have been a relatively unhealthier one anyway. That's how much impact sleep has. While I would still highly recommend reading the book, since cliff notes don't do the message justice - I saw how sleep deficiency was linked to Cancer, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, mood swings, depression, anxiety, retention, and just a general sense of well being, to name a few things. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is going to convince me to sacrifice sleep anymore. Secondly, I learned how sleeping later in the night isn't exactly something which is as terrible as so many people had been trying to convince me of. We keep seeing examples thrown around of CEOs waking up at 5AM in the morning, since the first ones to get up are the first ones to get started on doing great things in the world. But that, too, only has partial truth to it. Some of us are natural early birds and some night owls. And forcing one to comply with another can have a huge impact on how they perform at their workplace, school, or just in general. And I'm just gonna let you guess which of the two suffer here from the general rules widely accepted by society. Another interesting revelation to me, which had been out there in plain sight anyway, was how circadian rhythms are affected depending on age. Someone still in their formative years will have theirs shifted a little ahead, hence folks in their teens and early 20s go to sleep late and tend to wake up late. Unless, of course, they're forced out of bed, and asked to go about their schooling or job at a time the world functions in. And on the other hand, older people have their rhythms shift back, making them wake up as early as 4 AM, leading to drowsiness by late evening. If there's anything all the above shows us, it's that society should be much more forthcoming to people with their own individual sleep schedules, and encourage them to get all the sleep they need. And that brings me to what usually is encouraged. It's no news how getting less sleep is almost a fact people flaunt to show how hard they've been working, and I certainly have been guilty of it more times than one. What I am thankful to learn, now, is that the work you do when sleep deprived is not only less productive, but most likely counterintuitive. And it's only made worse by the cycle of consuming caffeine everyday, which leads to worse sleep, which leads to more caffeine, and the cycle continues. Please ask your doctor how long they've slept if they are to perform a surgery, as they're almost twice as likely to make a fatal mistake if they're not well-rested. Please ask your driver how much sleep they got. Because sleep deprivation has a HIGHER chance of causing a car accident, than even alcohol consumption, depending on the extent of both, of course. Why; you ask? Because alcohol makes you spaced out, or drowsy, or lose control. But lack of sleep will literally turn you off for a couple of seconds every now and then, into little microsleeps where you will lose complete control of what's happening. And those seconds are more than enough to put you into a death-assuring situation. Reading SO much about how lack of sleep can be life-ruining can certainly be very taxing to go through, for over 300 pages too, but this book also taught me a lot more about the brain through these tidbits. About research that revealed much more than simply sleep. About people. And knowing all this equips you, the reader, to protect yourself and the people around you from the sleep deprivation epidemic. This is a must-read book, even if you get 8 hours of sleep, and especially if you don't.

I can easily say that Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist, is one of the most important books that I've ever read. Modern humans have always taken their sleep for granted. It's always something that we can catch up on. And we have been dead wrong about this. Everything in our life is affected by the quality and quantity of our sleep. Almost everything that we do is enhanced/spoiled by our sleeping decision. Humans are not sleeping the way nature intended them to. The number of sleep periods, the duration of sleep, and when sleep occurs has all been distorted by the modern life. Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep to their detriment for petty activities. Even moderate reductions for just one week in our sleep disrupts the blood sugar levels so much that we would be classified as pre-diabetic. A few things that stood out for me: • Sleep is divided into non-REM sleep (early night) and REM sleep (mostly later night) • Sleep enhances our capacity to learn, remember and make logical decisions. • It configures our emotions, guards our immune system, takes care of our metabolism and keeps our weight in check. • Its deficiency is the leading cause of road accidents. • “The shorter you sleep, the shorter your life span.” • Inadequate sleep is associated with higher rates of mental disorders, heart diseases, cancer, dementia, etc. • Sleeping pills are no match for natural sleep. • Alcohol is one of the most powerful suppressors of REM sleep that we know of. • Sleep deprivation vastly increases your likelihood of getting infections. • REM sleep is what stands between rationality and insanity. • Many people walk through their lives sleep-deprived and never realize it. • Regularity is the key to good sleep - going to bed at the same time, waking up at the same time no matter what. There is so much in this book which should not be summarized. It has to be read and felt. This incomparable book should be compulsory reading for everyone.

I can't say anything about the book yet, I'm sure it's good... But I was upset by the condition it arrived in. It's sticky and scratched. It looks as if it's already been read, and it's unpleasant to hold. The price was ok, otherwise I would return it straight away

Lettura estremamente interessante ed educativa: esaustiva, dettagliata, con decine di studi scientifici a supporto degli argomenti trattati. Descritto così sembra quasi si tratti di un libro universitario, ma non lo è affatto! L'autore, professore di Neuroscienza e Psicologia e direttore di un laboratorio di ricerca su sonno e neuroimaging, è riuscito a mettere a terra l'argomento in maniera da rendere la lettura interessante, piacevole, e soprattutto di facile comprensione. Sicuramente consigliato a chi, come me, è sempre stato incuriosito dal sonno e voglia saperne di più. Tra gli argomenti più interessanti in mia opinione: cos'è il sonno e dove ha origine, a che cosa serve, come cambia nel corso della vita, quali possono essere gli innumerevoli effetti del dormire poco (ad esempio su apprendimento ed emotività), a cosa servono i sogni, e come sia possibile migliorare il proprio sonno senza ricorrere a farmaci.

I first heard about this study on BBC Radio 5live, when Phil Williams interviewed the author. I was so impressed by his approach & the way he described how the study was first designed & then developed & expanded that I read the book feeling, for the first time, that I was reading genuine findings & not someone’s unproven opinions. So without scepticism I felt able to completely embrace it as fact & I found it absolutely eye-opening! There are some incredible points that leapt out at me, such as: until this study scientists didn’t understand WHY we need to sleep - hence the title! With all the science we have available you would have thought we’d have known this long ago but it took this ‘proper’ investment to reach that knowledge & understanding. And another is WHEN; without this information the human race has set some ridiculous parameters around when we should sleep & decided they should apply to everyone. Worse, we’ve decided along the way that anyone who won’t or can’t live up to them is lazy or uncaring. We have designed our modern society around a set of non-scientific, irrelevant & sometimes even harmful ‘rules’, such as ‘working 9-5’ & ‘early start & early finish school times’. We believe all babies & small children should go to bed early. We go to great lengths to stop children napping, to get the sleep they need (possibly because they’ve had to get up some time before they were ready!), so that we can put them to bed early & enable parents to have an evening without them! The book shows us clearly that some babies & children won’t be able to go to sleep early (& stay asleep!) no matter how hard their parents try! One of the critical learning points is the necessity of sleep to our overall health, wellbeing & even life expectancy! I’ll never forget this & obviously we should be adopting it - as we are a first world society - now that we finally understand it! It’s ludicrous to ignore this knowledge just because we’ve got it wrong previously! I think anyone reading this book will end up with much better developed sleep strategies for themselves & their families. It’s really well written & interesting. Unsurprisingly it’s quite ‘meaty’ content & I found I tended to read a bit & then have to stop & have a think about it! But the key learning points are certainly sticking with me. I definitely think everyone can learn something from reading this book & I definitely recommend it!

Que gran libro, si tienes problemas de insomnio o quieres informarte con lo mejor en los estudios del sueño es un libro ideal

This book compiles a lot of scientific findings about sleep. Sleep is essential for our mental and physical health. A lack of sleep can cause many serious problems. I have changed my recognition of sleep entirely. I want to recommend everyone who engages in health care.