We need more sleep but are getting less. A YouGov poll for Five News found
that more than two thirds of Britons are failing to get the recommended
eight hours a night, and a third manage only six hours or less. Many of us,
it seems, lie awake worrying - about finances (more than half of adults),
rising fuel bills (37 per cent) and a fear of crime (15 per cent).
Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton may have managed on just
a few hours of sleep each night, plus a few catnaps, but most of us end up
feeling tired and grumpy.
Professor Jim Horne, director of the sleep centre at Loughborough University
and author of Sleepfaring: A journey through the science of sleep (OUP,
£14.99), says that the average person needs to sleep for about seven hours a
night - though a few people need more, and some manage on only four or five
hours.
“If all you need is that amount, fine,” says Horne, “but cutting down to five
hours or less is certainly not recommended, particularly for people whose
lifestyles are already overburdened.” In fact, says Horne, the cumulative
effects of too little sleep won't just leave people tetchy - it is
potentially risky.
There is plenty of evidence that long-term sleep deprivation can be unhealthy.
Horne says that it can affect decision-making and cognitive functioning, and
contribute to obesity, metabolic syndrome and related problems.
Last year, a study at Princeton University indicated that missing a whole
night's sleep affects the hippocampus - the part of the brain involved in
memory forming - and prevents it from forming new cells. Other studies have
suggested a link between obesity and lack of sleep, and this year US
researchers found that losing three consecutive nights of deep sleep could
harm the body's ability to control blood sugar levels, raising the risk of
diabetes.
But some experts say that those who sleep less may not be affecting their
health adversely in the long term. Indeed, diminished sleep patterns may
even instil positive changes in health and attitude - if you handle them
well. Here we profile four people who remain sprightly on only four to five
hours of sleep a night:
HOWARD BENTHAM, 42, is the presenter of BBC Hereford and Worcester's
breakfast radio show. He lives in the Cotswolds with his wife and three
children aged 7, 14 and 18. He gets 4 hours' sleep a night.
I have been presenting breakfast shows for seven years. I was a primary school
teacher before doing radio and never got out of the student thing of going
to bed at midnight or 1am and getting up at the last possible minute before
work.
That had to change virtually overnight. My daughter, Molly, now 7, was born
the week I started my first breakfast job. Thankfully, she proved not to be
a baby that woke up a lot and my wife, Gail, took care of that side of
things.
Now my day runs like clockwork. I'm up at 3.15am. Often I anticipate the alarm
and only occasionally am I shocked awake from a deep sleep by it ringing. I
have a 30-minute drive to work and am in the studios researching the items
to be featured on the programme by 4.30am. My show is on air 6-9am and I
often have meetings after that.
I once played sport to a high level, but now find I have little time for
exercise other than the odd round of golf and cricket in the summer. Despite
the way I live my life, the astounding thing is that I no longer feel as if
I'm getting tired.
I still teach three afternoons a week and on those days I have an energy dip
between 4.30 and 5.30pm so I frequently have a power nap. Even then, I never
shut my eyes for more than 20 minutes and have mastered the art of
micro-sleeping where I am unconscious for just 2-3 minutes but wake up
feeling completely refreshed.”
Professor Horne says: Successful people who enjoy life and are on top of their
jobs tend to sleep less.However, the 4-hour sleep that Howard gets is just
about the tolerable limit long term.
MARK PERRY, 39, runs a deli and coffee shop, Delizioso, in Cookham,
Berkshire. He lives in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, and has three children
aged 14, 12 and 2. He gets between 4 and 4 3/4 hours' sleep a night.
I worked on the London Underground for eight years, four of those as a driver
on a Tube train, and my shifts changed my sleeping patterns for good. Before
I did that job I had pretty regular seven to eight-hour nights. Now I often
sleep for just four hours and the most I get is five.
At weekends, when I have the chance to lie in a little longer, my body clock
won't allow it. I'm still awake at 5am, no matter what time I go to bed.
Whenever I sleep an extra hour or two, which is rare, I feel awful all day.
It's like I have a hangover that I can't shake off. When I first opened the
deli in 2005 I was working extremely long hours - we were open until 9pm -
and that did start to affect me. My wife and I also had a baby the following
year and he contributed to my tiredness with his night-time waking routine.
I tried going to bed earlier, but even then I would wake up, staring at the
ceiling, at 2 or 3am, which seemed pointless. Now I work fewer hours and the
sleep I get seems to suit me.
The shop now closes at 4.30pm and after that I have to rush around getting the
vegetables and other fresh stock for the next day as well as doing the
banking and accounts. In the evenings I relax by playing my guitar - I'm in
a band and often play with them until midnight before making my way home and
crashing into bed. I am also sure yoga helps me to relax - I attend a class
twice a week and always come out feeling as if any tensions have lifted.
If I get a tired patch during the day it is usually between 10 and 11am. I
drink coffee to keep me going, although I don't get through anywhere near as
much as when I was driving trains, which could be as much as 15 cups a day.
I never take naps during the week, but will do occasionally at weekends.
They are never longer than 5-10 minutes.
Even if I don't get round to it because I am rushing around with the kids, it
doesn't make any difference. I set my alarm but am always awake before it is
due to go off at 5am.
Professor Horne says: A driven man, Mark should cut back on the coffee he
relies on for a perk as it is no substitute for sleep. And he should try to
get at least one short nap every day - napping is as good as yoga for
revitalising the body and mind, if not better.
KYLE CATHIE, 59, is managing director of the book publishing company Kyle
Cathie. She has three grown-up children and lives in London. Kyle gets four
hours' sleep a night.
I am sure I inherited my sleep patterns from my mother. I recall hearing her
up at 2 to 3am when I was young and, although my three siblings and three
children sleep regularly, I am similar to my mother. I go to bed at midnight
and usually wake up at 4am, feeling fine and itching to get going with the
day.
I drink lots of coffee, then do the washing or other household chores and
check my e-mails. Just before 7am I'll have a bath, which is my relaxation,
and then I head for work at 7.45am.
I eat extremely healthily and get exercise from walking. I have two of my
children popping in regularly for meals and a chat. My life is busy. At 2pm
every day I hit a tired patch. It just happens and, wham, my energy goes
down.
I never sleep at work, but on Fridays and weekends when I'm not in the office
I succumb to this tiredness and shut my eyes for 15 minutes. That is usually
sufficient. My daughter sometimes sleeps until 1pm because she needs it. I
don't. I have no problem nodding off. I don't need sleep aids. I sometimes
read in the bathroom before going to sleep because it relaxes me a bit. But
then I hit the pillow and I am off.”
Professor Horne says: Older people can generally get by with less sleep. Kyle
is probably a naturally short sleeper but still needs a nap and I recommend
that she does that regularly. But she shouldn't overdo the caffeine in the
morning.
How to be a better sleeper
To become a more efficient sleeper and avoid sleep taking over your life, take
note of the following:
1. “The test of insufficient sleep is whether you are sleepy in the day or if
you remain alert through most of the day,” says Professor Horne.
2. If you do sleep less at night, catch up with regular catnaps, which are a
life-saving habit, says Dr Sara Mednick, the Harvard University psychologist
and sleep expert. A six-year Greek study published last year showed how a
midday nap could help to prevent heart disease.
3. Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, director of the Sleep Research Centre at the
University of Surrey, says that most people who need to catch up on sleep
“naturally feel the urge to nap between 1pm and 3pm, which is ideal”. One
reason this is a prime napping time, says Mednick, is because it's when the
sun is at its highest and temperatures peak, making us feel intuitively
sleepy.
4. For the chronically tired, two 25-minute naps at lunchtime and after work
may be enough to help you catch up on sleep debt. The first 20 minutes of
sleep is usually rich in slow-wave sleep and therefore deeply relaxing.
5. Few people need more than 7-8 hours' sleep a night and any more than that
is just a luxury, not a physiological requirement, Horne says.
Depends if I'm dreaming about sex or not !!!!!
Ian Payne, WALSALL,