From: Entropyfoe@aol.com
Date: Fri Oct 29 1999 - 20:43:38 MDT
Coincidentally, germane to the recent thread, this sleep loss link to
inhibition of Life Extension.
I am very guilty...
My candle it burns at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah my foes
and ah my friends
It gives a lovely light
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Below is from Dr. Mercola's news letter...
-Jay
"Too Little Sleep May Accelerate Aging
Regularly catching only a few hours of sleep can hinder metabolism and
hormone production in a way that is similar to the effects of aging and
the early stages of diabetes.
Chronic sleep loss may speed the onset or increase the severity of
age-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure,
obesity, and memory loss. The researchers showed that just one week of
sleep deprivation altered subject's hormone levels and their capacity to
metabolize carbohydrates. People who trade sleep for work or play may
get used to it and feel less fatigued.
During sleep-deprivation, the researchers found, the men's blood sugar
levels took 40% longer to drop following a high-carbohydrate meal,
compared with the sleep-recovery period. Their ability to secrete and
respond to the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar,
dropped by 30%. These changes echo the effects of insulin resistance, a
precursor to type 2 diabetes. In addition, the sleep-deprived men had
higher nighttime concentrations of the hormone cortisol, which also
helps regulate blood sugar, and lower levels of thyroid-stimulating
hormone. These raised cortisol levels mimic levels that are often seen
in older people, and may be involved in age-related insulin resistance
and memory loss.
Sleep debts are sort of like stress. Most sleep-deprivation research has
focused on what it does to the brain, but it is likely that sleep has
many functions. In the study, subjects' blood sugar and hormone
concentrations were restored after the sleep-recovery period.
Earlier research has shown that in developed countries, the average
night's sleep has grown shorter since the beginning of the century, from
9 hours to 7.5 hours. Many people give up sleep to make room for work
and leisure. An adequate amount of sleep is as important as an adequate
amount of exercise. Sleeping is not a sin.
COMMENT: This topic is particularly important as we prepare for the
clock shift next weekend. This is a very important study published out
of my hometown at the University of Chicago right down the block from
where I went to medical school. I think most of us do not fully
appreciate the value of a full night's sleep. This article nicely
demonstrates the incredible disruption of our finely balanced hormones
that results when we get less sleep than we were designed to. I believe
that seven hours is an absolute minimum for most all of us, and most of
us would benefit from closer to 9 hours. The researchers did find that
sleep debt could be made up by spending longer than the normal eight
hours in bed, which seemed to return the body's chemical balance to
normal. Another sleep hygiene principle is that you should be in bed by
10PM. I think in the winter months 9 PM is more likely to be a better
time if you have to wake up early to go to work. I have been
experimenting with 9 PM as a bedtime and find it to provide a great deal
of rest and I wake up feeling far more refreshed. I will attempt to keep
this pattern as I usually get up at 4:30 and I believe 7 1/2 is the bare
minimum amount of sleep one should get.
The Lancet October 23, 1999;354:1435-1439.
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