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IPFS News Link • Health and Physical Fitness

A Lack of Sleep can Leave You 'Functionally DRUNK', In a Matter of Days, Experts Warn

• https://www.lewrockwell.com

Failing to get enough sleep can leave a person 'functionally drunk', in a matter of days, experts today warned.

They note sleep is much more important than many people realise.

Even if a person achieves six hours a night, they are building up a sleep debt, Olivia Walch from the University of Michigan said.

Her warnings come as a new study, co-authored by Ms. Walch, reveal the sleep patterns of people across the world.

The findings show middle-aged men are the most likely to be sleep deprived, often failing to get the recommended seven to eight hours shut eye.

Researchers found women are more concerned with scheduling their sleep, planning around 30 minutes more a night, on average than their male counterparts.

Women tend to go to bed earlier and wake up later, especially those aged between 30 and 60, the study found.

Those people who spend time in sunlight each day tend to go to bed earlier and get more sleep than those people who spend most of their time cooped up inside all day.

Ms. Walch said: 'It doesn't take that many days of not getting enough sleep before you're functionally drunk.

'Researchers have figured out that being overly tired can have that effect.

'And what's terrifying at the same time is that people think they're performing tasks way better than they are.

'Your performance drops off but your perception of your performance doesn't.'

Researchers collated their data using a free smartphone app that helps reduce jetlag.

It allowed them to gather robust sleep data from thousands of people across 100 countries.

The researchers examined how age, gender, the amount of light and home country affect the number of hours sleep people around the globe get each night.

They also looked at when people went to bed, and when their alarms go off in the morning.

Researchers found that cultural pressures can override natural circadian rhythms, with the effects being most markedly seen at bedtime.


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