Too much sleep may be bad for you
Excessive sleep is counterproductive,
according to an article
published recently in The Psychologist
Magazine. Professor
Jim Horne of the Sleep
Research Centre in Loughborough
claims that sleeping for
too long not only causes deterioration
in the quality of sleep,
but also causes people to take
longer in falling asleep and
means that they wake more
frequently during the night.
According to Professor
Horne, sleeping one or two
hours beyond the normal eight
hours, leads to only marginal
improvements in daytime alertness.
Oversleeping does eliminate
an early afternoon dip in
wakefulness, though Professor
Horne suggests that a 10
minute power nap is a much
better remedy for those affected
by afternoon sleepiness.
Sleeping Beauty got it wrong (JERONE MARTIN/AFP)
"It's like any treatment, the
nearer to the time of suffering
that you administer the dose,
the more effective it is and the
less you have to give," Professor
Horne said. "Once the body
gets beyond 10 minutes it starts
to think that it is night time and
the full blown sleep process
starts setting in. If you wake up
once that has started, say after
25 minutes, you will feel really
yucky."
The professor also suggests
that reading, talking with
friends and family, or watching
television provides almost as
much relaxation for the body as
a lengthy nap.
Siān Knight, Nottingham
studentBMJ 2001;09:217-260 July ISSN 0966-6494
