kayakboy

If you like public radio, check out 'radio lab'. You can down load the podcast. Or go to radiolab.org and listen there. They did an episode on sleep that gives you a basic shake down. I found it extremely interesting. Happy trails, Ty

savage24

I've seen those people!! They are all around me in traffic.

making

Many studies blame sleep deprivation for everything from memory loss to heart disease. The last big study I read showed signifigant health improvement for people who get 6-8 h sleep per night. That study may have been skewed becasue some preexisting conditions may decrease sleep, not caused by it. But there is a great deal of evidence cooralating sleep patterns with health. I can go long periods without sleep and in my younger days did on a regular basis. I DONT KNOW WHY. Sleep is good. You feel better, are more productive and healthier. I guess staying up for long periods occassionally is not that bad long term, but it does make you goofy.

Cave

After many years of on call work, and now with a new baby , I like all the sleep I can get.

I find a siesta really good when cycling in the heat. I often need a rest anyway if I'm riding a lot, taking an hour or two off after lunch works well for me.

Also if I don't keep well enough hydrated I feel tired and vague, and it is harder to set up/drink/eat, so I think staying well hydrated and well fed ties in to energy levels too.

Cave

Re staying awake for months at a time - I think the way the human brain works, you need some down-time. If we function as neural networks (which seems likely), periods of time with minimal outside stimuli are required to let the neural patterns settle down, or you get feedback cyles. This happens with virtual neural networks, and presumably sleep-deprivation hallucinations are a similar thing in humans.

Dolphins sleep with one brain hemishphere at a time, apparently. This lets them rest but still stay vigilant for hazards. Neat trick!

making

half a brain??? Maybe my bosses are dolphins?

brotherdan

I'm planning a tour for this coming summer that will require me to ride 1400 miles in a week. And then I'll turn around and do a similar distance in a week after a rest period. I'm expecting a lot of sleep deprivation and night riding. I think I can do it, but it will be interesting to see how difficult it turns out to be.

RalphP

I heard an interview on NPR a few weeks ago with two scientists who say they have proven that we all need 7 - 8 hours sleep a night to function normally. Well, forget that! Couple-two-three cups of coffee-coffee and one is functioning, functioning, functioning. But one thing I read elsewhere does make some sense: When asleep, the blood pressure goes quite low. The normal "awake" BP pressure is therefore relatively high. So, if the body is not getting its sleep BP, the body is experiencing over-all elevated BP over the long term. And the idea is that this is not good if one wants to live a long time.

rwp

This is intentional sarcasm, right?

RalphP

:d

quester

In a related note, this forum does have an "ignore list" facility. Doesn't kill entire threads, but....