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I'm halfway through Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep. And it's terrifying. The medical implications of insufficient sleep are rather worrisome. https://www.pengui

by drej 8y ago

I'm halfway through Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep. And it's terrifying. The medical implications of insufficient sleep are rather worrisome. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295665/why-we-sleep/9780141983769.html https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295665/why-we-sleep/97801419...

colechristensen 8y ago
I read it, I liked it, I felt like it was not written very objectively. There did not seem to be nearly enough self-doubt or testing alternate situations. And it shouldn't be terrifying. You no longer have to worry about animals trying to eat you, finding enough food to eat yourself, dying of infection, or physically defending yourself on a day to day basis. If the worst thing that's wrong with you is sub-optimal sleep, you've got life pretty good. We're getting down to solving more and more subtle problems. Sleep, the biological contents of your digestive system, and environmental exposures look to be the big health problems on the table to solve in the next few decades.
- manmal 8y ago
  Sub-optimal sleep can absolutely ruin you, in the long run. E.g. it's been suggested that a significant portion (a third, IIRC, have to find that article) of chronic fatigue incidents are due to non-restorative sleep. Definitely a problem worth solving if you have it. If you lie in bed awake once per week or so, you surely don't need to fret about it. It just must not become part of your lifestyle - if it does, get a checkup.
  - sbarker 8y ago
    Calm down. We all die in the long run... Want better sleep? Stop worrying and work with your hands a bit.
    - marak830 8y ago
      Unfortunately that doesn't always work. Sometimes due to pure amounts of work I have done over the day I just can't sleep when I get to bed. (Chef, so definitely working with my hands haha)
    - lj3 8y ago
      Heart attacks increase by 25% When we lose that 1 hour of sleep by switching to Daylight Savings time.
- FabHK 8y ago
  Walker does bring quite some evidence to bear, though. I think the triad of well-being (good exercise, good nutrition, good sleep) is well established, and we're well advised to make sure we get enough sleep.

by drej 8y ago

colechristensen 8y ago

I read it, I liked it, I felt like it was not written very objectively. There did not seem to be nearly enough self-doubt or testing alternate situations. And it shouldn't be terrifying. You no longer have to worry about animals trying to eat you, finding enough food to eat yourself, dying of infection, or physically defending yourself on a day to day basis. If the worst thing that's wrong with you is sub-optimal sleep, you've got life pretty good. We're getting down to solving more and more subtle problems. Sleep, the biological contents of your digestive system, and environmental exposures look to be the big health problems on the table to solve in the next few decades.

manmal 8y ago
Sub-optimal sleep can absolutely ruin you, in the long run. E.g. it's been suggested that a significant portion (a third, IIRC, have to find that article) of chronic fatigue incidents are due to non-restorative sleep. Definitely a problem worth solving if you have it. If you lie in bed awake once per week or so, you surely don't need to fret about it. It just must not become part of your lifestyle - if it does, get a checkup.
- sbarker 8y ago
  Calm down. We all die in the long run... Want better sleep? Stop worrying and work with your hands a bit.
  - marak830 8y ago
    Unfortunately that doesn't always work. Sometimes due to pure amounts of work I have done over the day I just can't sleep when I get to bed. (Chef, so definitely working with my hands haha)
  - lj3 8y ago
    Heart attacks increase by 25% When we lose that 1 hour of sleep by switching to Daylight Savings time.
FabHK 8y ago
Walker does bring quite some evidence to bear, though. I think the triad of well-being (good exercise, good nutrition, good sleep) is well established, and we're well advised to make sure we get enough sleep.