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Sleep. How Much Do We Need?

 

The average person needs
8.2 hours of sleep per day
to prevent mental and behavioral deficits from accumulating.

 

 In a busy life, sleep is often cut. How much do we really need? A new study from the University of Pennsylvania studied 49 young, healthy adults (aged 21-28) to see how much sleep they needed before cognitive function was seriously impaired.

Subjects who got only 6 hours or less per night for 2 weeks showed significant deficits in cognitive performance, equivalent to persons going without any sleep for up to three days! Yet the subjects felt OK, just a little sleepy, and were unaware how impaired their abilities were.

They also found that cognitive abilities are impaired even with a moderate reduction in sleep. Cognitive performance deficits include:

  • Reduced ability to pay attention
  • Decreased reaction to a stimulus such as when driving or monitoring at an airport
  • Impaired ability to think quickly
  • Increased mistakes
  • Reduced ability to multi-task

The researchers concluded, "These findings show that while young adults may believe they can adapt to less than a full night's sleep, over time, chronic sleep deprivation may seriously affect their performance while they are awake, and they may not even realize it."

They also found that the average person (people do vary a little) needed 8.2 hours of sleep daily to prevent neurobehavioral defects (as listed above) from accumulating. Other research shows that people who get less than 6.5 to 7 hours nightly have an increased risk of mortality. They simply burn out sooner.

To feel and perform at your best, be sure to get adequate sleep each night. If a little short on sleep, a brief nap can also be helpful in improving the performance of many people.

 

 
Reference
 

References
Ellen O'brien and Linda Cook, Sustained reduced sleep can have serious consequences,  National Institute of Nursing Research, NIH News,  March 12, 2003

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Making Healthy Choices articles are written by Don Hall, DrPH, CHES president of LifeLong Health with contributions from associated health professionals. Content is general health information from evidence based research. It's purpose is not to treat disease or take the place of advice by your doctor but to promote healthy lifestyles. Persons with health problems should contact their physician for specific guidance.

Copyrighted 2003 by PrevMedix LLC. All rights reserved. Do not make unauthorized copies.

Updated: 2-27-03 DRH