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"non-complaining poor sleepers" – who sleep badly but don’t define themselves as insomniacs – don’t suffer the high blood pressure commonly associated with sev

by Too 9y ago

"non-complaining poor sleepers" – who sleep badly but don’t define themselves as insomniacs – don’t suffer the high blood pressure commonly associated with severe sleeplessness. Meanwhile, “complaining good sleepers” – who get enough shut-eye, but are heavily invested in their alleged insomnia – were essentially as tired, anxious and depressed as those who genuinely didn’t sleep. Causation vs correlation? This could easily be the other way around, maybe it's because they don't feel good they complain about it...

coldtea 9y ago
The key is that the non-complaining people also "sleep badly" (and fewer hours). So whether they complaining insomniacs don't feel good and thus complain, or complain and thus don't feel good, we at least know that it's not the sleeplessness (as it is common to both groups).
- im3w1l 9y ago
  How much sleep someone needs varies a lot. Maybe the non-complainers simply didn't need that much sleep?
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >How much sleep someone needs varies a lot. From everything I've read (at the medical documents/research, not the lifehack level) it doesn't vary much. It varies only a little with age and the presence (or not) of a gene, but it's the same across such groups (e.g. not some individual organism preference). Those that sleep less simply damage their body, and will pay for it later and with reduced functioning (compared to enough sleep) -- it's not that they actually "need less". Same for those that sleep more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12683469 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12683469 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12603781 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12603781 Most researchers now believe that the relationship between sleep duration and mortality (link is external) is best described as a U-shaped curve with the right side of the “U” considerably higher. That is, less than 5 1/2 hours of sleep is associated with some degree of increased mortality. However, sleeping beyond 9 or 10 hours per night, is associated with a markedly increased mortality
    - im3w1l 9y ago
      That's a pretty wide range just saying.
- underwater 9y ago
  Isn’t that assuming that lack of sleep affects everyone in the same way? Different people need different amounts of sleep. I am a night owl and so find a shitty nights sleep will result in a shitty morning; but I’ll feel much better by the end of the day. Whereas a morning person might wake up without issues and only pay the price later on (and counter with an early night).
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >Isn’t that assuming that lack of sleep affects everyone in the same way? Different people need different amounts of sleep. Not according to all medical advise I've read (no lifestyle advice / lifehacks). The body really needs its sleep, and the amount is more or less fixed to 7-8 hours. There's only a small (1-2 hours variation with age, not with individual people).
    - kharms 9y ago
      There is at least some variation. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-mutation-sleep-less/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-mutation-...

by Too 9y ago

coldtea 9y ago

The key is that the non-complaining people also "sleep badly" (and fewer hours). So whether they complaining insomniacs don't feel good and thus complain, or complain and thus don't feel good, we at least know that it's not the sleeplessness (as it is common to both groups).

im3w1l 9y ago
How much sleep someone needs varies a lot. Maybe the non-complainers simply didn't need that much sleep?
- coldtea 9y ago
  >How much sleep someone needs varies a lot. From everything I've read (at the medical documents/research, not the lifehack level) it doesn't vary much. It varies only a little with age and the presence (or not) of a gene, but it's the same across such groups (e.g. not some individual organism preference). Those that sleep less simply damage their body, and will pay for it later and with reduced functioning (compared to enough sleep) -- it's not that they actually "need less". Same for those that sleep more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12683469 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12683469 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12603781 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12603781 Most researchers now believe that the relationship between sleep duration and mortality (link is external) is best described as a U-shaped curve with the right side of the “U” considerably higher. That is, less than 5 1/2 hours of sleep is associated with some degree of increased mortality. However, sleeping beyond 9 or 10 hours per night, is associated with a markedly increased mortality
  - im3w1l 9y ago
    That's a pretty wide range just saying.
underwater 9y ago
Isn’t that assuming that lack of sleep affects everyone in the same way? Different people need different amounts of sleep. I am a night owl and so find a shitty nights sleep will result in a shitty morning; but I’ll feel much better by the end of the day. Whereas a morning person might wake up without issues and only pay the price later on (and counter with an early night).
- coldtea 9y ago
  >Isn’t that assuming that lack of sleep affects everyone in the same way? Different people need different amounts of sleep. Not according to all medical advise I've read (no lifestyle advice / lifehacks). The body really needs its sleep, and the amount is more or less fixed to 7-8 hours. There's only a small (1-2 hours variation with age, not with individual people).
  - kharms 9y ago
    There is at least some variation. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-mutation-sleep-less/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-mutation-...