Sleep

Did you know? / Sleep research facts

• Without enough sleep, wounds and injuries take longer to heal
• Losing sleep is thought to be related to developing breast cancer
• One night of lost sleep is thought to increase your risk of heart attack and stroke the next day
• Deep sleep regulates growth hormone, a potent fat-burner which helps build new, strong and healthy skin and muscle tissues
• Both deep sleep time and growth hormone release can be maximized by taking a nap after high-intensity workouts and by following consistent bedtimes
• Frequent, short naps (of less than one hour) during the day can increase growth hormone levels
• Avoid daytime naps of greater than one hour as this can adversely affect dream sleep at night
• Finding the right balance of dream sleep and deep sleep can enhance the effects of workouts, swimming or dietary programs
• This balance is also known to help with depression, enhance judgment, brain function and even sexual performance
• Sleep deprivation is strongly related to the development of severe depression, as is too much dream sleep
• Pharmacological treatment for depression often reduces the amount of dream sleep
• After a night of dream sleep deprivation, blood lactate is elevated the next day, increasing the sense of effort required during exercise workouts
• Dream sleep deprivation causes hyper-sexuality and increased aggression in animals and is associated with impaired brain function in humans
• Sleep deprivation has been linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Improving sleep patterns improves these conditions greatly.
• One in every 6 fatal accidents is linked to sleep deprivation
• Trying to survive on four hours of sleep at night, triggers symptoms of type 2 diabetes, memory loss and premature aging(university of Chicago
• Female nurses working rotating shift work for 30 years or more have 36 percent higher rate of developing breast cancer (Harvard study)