Photo:
Alena
Ozerova
(Shutterstock)
Anyone
who’s
gone
through
an
all-nighter
or
has
had
bouts
of
insomnia
knows
that
getting
adequate
sleep
is
a
key
part
of
feeling
good.
Next
to
regular
physical
activity
and
avoiding
risky
things
like
smoking,
ensuring
that
we
usually
have
a
good
night’s
sleep
might
be
the
most
impactful
thing
we
can
do
to
improve
our
odds
of
a
well-lived
and
long
life.
But
despite
sleep
taking
up
about
one-third
of
our
time
on
Earth,
scientists
have
only
barely
begun
to
scratch
the
surface
of
understanding
why
sleep
is
so
important.
Here
are
some
of
the
few
lessons
we’ve
learned
to
date.
A
baby
koala
sleeping.
Image:
Richard
A
Wall
(Shutterstock)
For
instance,
research
has
consistently
shown
that
poor
sleep
is
tied
to
a
greater
risk
of
heart
attacks,
stroke,
and
heart
disease.
One
reason
for
this
connection
is
that
poor
sleep
is
associated
with
other
cardiovascular
risk
factors
such
as
high
blood
pressure,
type
2
diabetes,
and
obesity.
A
sleeping
ferret
Image:
Irina
Vasilevskaia
(Shutterstock)
It’s
not
just
the
body
that
needs
good
sleep,
but
the
mind
as
well.
Chronically
poor
sleep
is
thought
to
raise
the
risk
of
future
depression,
though
it
can
also
be
a
symptom
of
the
latter.
And
short
bouts
of
sleep
deprivation
have
been
shown
to
cause
mood
imbalances.
A
2018
study
even
found
that
temporary
sleep
loss
can
make
us
more
antisocial
and
isolated
from
others.
Three
sleeping
baby
rabbits.
Image:
Sedletsky
(Shutterstock)
Sleep
can
affect
our
biology
in
both
major
and
subtle
ways.
Case
in
point,
a
2023
study
found that
sleeping
fewer
hours
a
night
immediately
before
and
after
getting
a
vaccine
was
associated
with
having
lower
levels
of
vaccine-related
antibodies—in
other
words,
weakening
our
body’s
immune
response
to
whatever
germ
the
vaccine
is
meant
to
target.
Some
past
studies
have
yielded
contradictory
results,
so
more
data
might
be
needed
to
settle
whether
this
link
is
genuine.
But
research
in
general
does
point
to
sleep
being
crucial
for
a
healthy
immune
system.
A
four-week-old
otter
pup
sleeping
Image:
Eric
Isselee
(Shutterstock)
Given
how
important
sleep
is
to
our
health,
it’s
a
shame
that
it’s
not
so
easy
to
catch
up
on
our
lost
hours
of
snoozing.
The
authors
of
a
2019
study
tried
to
empirically
measure
the
value
of
catch-up
sleeping.
They
had
young
healthy
volunteers
intentionally
sleep
poorly
for
five
days,
then
had
some
volunteers
get
extra
sleep
on
the
weekend.
While
this
extra
sleeping
did
appear
to
help
volunteers
eat
lighter
and
better
control
their
blood
sugar,
the
health
benefits
went
away
as
soon
as
they
started
not
sleeping
much
again,
the
researchers
found.
If
nothing
else,
this
research
seems
to
show
that
it
takes
more
than
a
weekend
to
pay
back
our
sleep
debt.
A
sleeping
Syrian
hamster.
Image:
Alex
Milan
(Shutterstock)
There’s
all
sort
of
folk
remedies
for
helping
you
sleep
well.
But
perhaps
the
most
fun
method
might
involve
some
time
under
the
bedsheets.
A
2023
study
found
that
people
were
more
likely
to
report
good
sleep
if
they
either
had
sex
with
someone
that
led
to
orgasm
or
masturbated
on
their
own
with
orgasm.
And
for
those
curious,
there
appeared
to
be
no
significant
gender
differences
in
the
results.
So
as
long
as
you
can
get
off,
you’ll
be
more
likely
to
doze
off
just
fine.
A
piglet
sleeping
in
straw.
Image:
Jeff
Grabert
(Shutterstock)
The
long
list
of
things
that
climate
change
has
or
will
make
worse
for
us
might
also
include
our
sleep.
A
2022
study
found
evidence
that
warming
temperatures
have
already
started
to
erode
our
quality
and
quantity
of
sleep
by
causing
more
unbearably
hot
nights.
By
the
end
of
the
century,
the
study
predicted,
the
worst
climate
scenarios
might
cause
us
to
lose
an
average
58
hours
of
sleep
and
experience
more
than
14
days
of
short
sleep
a
year.
A
baby
Canadian
goose
sleeping
in
the
sun.
Image:
Steve
Byland
(Shutterstock)
Speaking
of
unexpected
triggers
for
poor
sleep:
A
research
paper
published
last
June
found
evidence
across
four
different
studies
that
people
who
use
artificial
intelligence
regularly
in
their
jobs
are
more
likely
to
report
loneliness,
drinking
alcohol,
and
insomnia.
The
authors
suggest
that
the
frequent
use
of
AI
can
isolate
people
away
from
their
co-workers
and
other
humans,
sapping
them
of
their
need
for
social
contact.
A
three-day-old
lamb
sleeping
on
the
ground.
Image:
Helle
(Shutterstock)
There
are
many
diseases
that
can
mess
with
your
sleep,
but
the
scariest
and
most
bizarre
one
of
all
might
be
fatal
familial
insomnia.
Those
afflicted
with
FFI
will
experience
mild
insomnia
at
first.
Soon
enough,
however,
the
loss
of
sleep
grows
steadily
worse,
to
the
point
where
sleeping
isn’t
possible
at
all
anymore.
Other
neurological
symptoms
such
as
speech
problems,
hallucinations,
and
eventually
full-blown
dementia
appear
as
well.
Like
the
name
suggests,
there
is
no
cure
for
FFI
and
people
usually
die
within
weeks
to
months
of
the
illness
first
making
its
presence
known.
The
silver
lining
here
is
that
the
disease
is
incredibly
rare.
It’s
caused
by
prions,
the
misfolded
zombie-like
version
of
proteins
that
force
their
normal
counterparts
to
become
misfolded
as
well,
which
then
destroys
the
brain.
Prion
diseases
can
emerge
spontaneously,
but
FFI
is
typically
triggered
by
having
inherited
mutations
that
make
our
prions
vulnerable
to
misfolding.
A
sleeping
foal.
Image:
Inesmeierfotografie
(Shutterstock)
Dream
manipulation
might
seem
like
the
stuff
of
fiction,
but
scientists
have
started
to
make
it
a
reality.
In
2021,
research
teams
from
four
countries
reported
their
independent
and
apparently
successful
attempts
to
converse
with
people
while
they
were
lucid
dreaming.
Not
only
did
the
dreamers
appear
capable
of
responding
to
yes-or-no
questions
from
the
scientists,
some
even
remembered
what
the
scientists
asked
once
they
woke
up.
A
separate
study
in
2022
also
found
evidence
that
it’s
possible
to
steer
people
away
from
having
bad
dreams
by
playing
sound
cues
that
the
dreamers
were
trained
to
recall
while
awake.
This
method,
the
authors
say,
might
be
used
to
help
people
with
chronic
nightmare
disorders.
Freddy
Krueger,
eat
your
heart
out.
A
Hungarian
Vizsla
puppy
sleeping
in
a
hammock
Image:
Ivanova
N
(Shutterstock)
You’ve
probably
heard
that
it’s
bad
for
you
to
ignore
your
wake-up
alarm
and
keep
snoozing
longer.
But
research
last
October,
one
of
the
first
to
ever
try
studying
the
effects
of
snoozing,
should
reassure
any
would-be
snoozers.
The
research,
which
actually
involved
two
separate
studies,
found
no
evidence
that
snoozers
were
losers—that
is
to
say
that
snoozing
was
not
associated
with
poorer
sleep
quality
compared
to
not
snoozing.
In
one
experiment,
people
who
snoozed
did
sleep
about
six
minutes
fewer
on
average
than
non-snoozers,
but
the
researchers
found
no
significant
difference
in
people’s
stress
hormone
levels,
morning
sleepiness,
mood,
and
overall
sleep
structure;
snoozers
even
seemed
to
perform
slightly
better
on
simple
tests
of
their
cognition.
So
yeah,
if
you’re
already
prone
to
snoozing,
then
feel
free
to
keep
doing
it.
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