Is the much-vaunted eight hours of sleep enough to avoid health issues? Experts discuss why it’s important to wake up feeling refreshed. Most of us spend roughly one-third of our lives sleeping, but you may need more or less than eight hours a night. Humans cycle through sleep stages roughly every 90 minutes. In the first portion of the night, Atwood said that more of the cycle is slow wave sleep, or deep sleep, which is essential to repairing and restoring the body. It’s also when “growth hormone” is released. In the latter hours of the night, more of the sleep cycle is spent in rapid-eye-movement sleep, or dream sleep, which is important for learning and memory consolidation, or the process in which short-term memory gets turned into long-term memory. Kids get more “deep sleep,” with about 50 percent of the night in that realm, she said. That drops at adolescence, Atwood said, because our body doesn’t need the same kind of repair and restoration. Your risk of cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure, risk of heart attack, and stroke increases. Your immune system is compromised. You’re at greater risk for Alzheimer’s”. If you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep every night but still waking up feeling tired, you might consider going to your general practitioner.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2025