I read a really fun article about sleep on stumbleupon.com
and thought I'd share some facts I found interesting.
Slate snuggled down in our bed.
The master bedroom bed is always the most snugly, isn't it?
- Every mammal, bird, even fish, require sleep to function.
- While you sleep, your cells repair themselves, your brain recharges and your body releases important hormones. (I guess this is why you feel like a zombie when you are sleep deprived!)
- Babies require 16 hours of sleep a day, children 3-18 years old require 10 hours, adults 18- 55 years old require 8 hours. If you're over 65 years old, your body only needs 6 hours a day!
- Men have dreams about other men 70% of the time. Women dream about men and women equally.
- Parasomnia is a type of sleep disorder where you do things while sleeping which are criminal, such as driving, committing murder and writing bad checks.
- 12% of people dream only in black and white. The percentage used to be higher before there was color television!
- Dreaming is normal. People who don't dream usually have some kind of personality disorder.
- One in four married couples sleep in separate beds. (I wonder if this has something to do with snoring. ha.)
- British soldiers were the first to develop something to help stay awake 36 hours without sleep. When sleepy, they put on special visors that emulated the brightness of the sun and it woke them up. (I'm guessing the same theory applies in today's world with people looking at computer screens and reading Kindles before bed and having a hard time sleeping after looking at the light.)
- Koalas sleep the longest of any mammals, 22 hours a day. Giraffes sleep the least. Only 1.9 hours a day in 5-10 minute increments. (Sounds like moms of newborns to me!)
- When dolphins sleep, half their brain shuts down. The other half stays awake to help with breathing cycles. (reminds me of mother's of autistic children. We sleep with one eye open! ha.)
- You'll die from sleep deprivation before food deprivation! You'll die from starvation in 2 weeks but just 10 days without sleep can kill you.
- Within 5 minutes of waking up, 50% of your dream is forgotten. Your dream is 90% forgotten in just 10 minutes. (Don't you hate that? I always tell myself to remember a dream in the middle of the night, but rarely do I remember it in the morning!)
- 1 out of 50 teenagers still wet the bed.
And there you have it!
zzzzzzz
♥
I sleep for 8 hours a night, plus a power nap of about an hour in the mid-morning, and a power nap for about 2 hours in the afternoon. I guess my batteries are buggered, and need charging more often! Ha!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're really younger than you thought! haha.
DeleteNot surprised about teenagers wetting the bed. My nephew always takes a can of beer to bed with him, falls asleep, and the can slips from his hand and spills over the bedclothes and he wakes up next morning soaked. True! I usually wake up in a bed full of cookie crumbs.
DeleteI wake up in a bed full of cats!
DeleteSome interesting facts. I have read a lot about sleep too. Especially because I rarely get any.
ReplyDeleteI keep a notepad by my bed to jot dreams down, otherwise they vanish.
I hope I come back as a cat... or a koala bear! Lots of blissful sleep.
I wonder if it's because of the length of the giraffe's neck that it needs to stay awake to keep from toppling over!
I am looking at the lovely photo of Slate and thinking it might be time for a nap... zzzzz...
The Mister has trouble sleeping quite often. I rarely do and many times don't even hear him get up. My fitbit says I fall asleep in less than three minutes. haha.
DeleteInteresting about the giraffe, isn't it? I can't even imagine! Maybe it's because they need to stay away in case a lion is about to pounce. They can't really hide away and sleep anywhere, you know?
Less than three minutes? Oh how I envy you. I can sometimes fall asleep fairly quickly (but not three minutes!) but then I am awake a few hours later. Has to do with chronic pain and health challenges but I am working on solutions. Can't wait to get my new hip but it is still months away.
DeleteIt's very hard to sleep in pain! I have to take advil and a hot shower before bed so it doesn't keep me awake. But I just have arthritis...not a bad hip! Ugh! I have a friend that just had hers replaced and she feels so much better! I'm sure you will, too! Hope it comes soon!
DeleteSlate having a Catnap . . . :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article with lots and lots of facts . . most unknown to me . .
You forgot to include:
15. A Brit called Eddie very often dreams about a gorgeous lady from Ohio with big brown eyes, long dark hair, currently wearing shorts, a T shirt and hair down . . . :)
Have a lovely evening . . :)
lol...you crack me up. This must be the 30% while not dreaming about other men? And do tell...do you dream in color? Maybe not since you watched black and white television much longer than the rest of us. hahaha....
DeleteOh . . . . you are in vivid technicolor in ultra wide cinema scope and have a soft low gentle Mid western voice in wrap around sound in full stereo . . . and I never forget the dream but unfortunately sometimes wake up and try very hard to go back to sleep and resume the dream which alas never happens . . hahaha. I eradicate all other men from my thoughts so I never have a 70% dream strike with them . . . . only you, my dear . . . hahaha!!
DeleteWell, aren't you charming! hahaha...oh gosh, I am laughing! Wrap around sound? lol...
DeleteDon't you hate it when you want to go back to sleep and finish a dream but cannot?
That has happened to me several times!
Yes I always hate it when I have a very pleasant dream interrupted and can't go back and say, "Now where were we?" . . hahaha. Wrap around sound . . . lol. Shan't tell you what you said . . . lol
DeleteGlad I exercised your chuckle muscle . .
Er . . . Sweet Dreams . . . lol
lol....good night!
DeleteThe giraffe sleep issue is pretty interesting. I don't think they can even sit or lay down. Maybe they can lean up against a tree and snuggle with it to sleep standing up. Sounds like I need to do some research on giraffes. You've got me thinking now! Sleep tight!
ReplyDeleteWell, if you find anything out, come back and report. It is interesting, isn't it? I was telling Suza that maybe it's because they need to be on the lookout for lions so they don't become dinner. It's not like they can hide anywhere and have a good sleep since they are so tall.
DeleteI found out they do lay on the ground and turn their necks around to rest their head on their backside. Another article said they only sleep for about 5 minutes at a time for a total of about 1-1/2 a day. Maybe some of those leaves they eat are like a 5-hour energy drink for them. They do have to be on constant alert. It was quite an interesting read. :)
DeleteThat is very interesting. But it sure doesn't look comfortable, does it? Poor things.
DeleteI wish I could get a solid nights sleep...being of a certain age I find that nature calls too often.....
ReplyDeleteInteresting facts.
When we were taking care of my Mother in Law on some weekends, she had the early stages of Alzheimers, we would sleep with one eye open too. Sometimes life got a little scary.
Yes, it can get scary! When the triplets were young, Spencer would run off. Quite a few times he escaped even before we were awake in the morning. One time we didn't even know he was gone and the police drove up with him in their squad car. Oh my! Thankfully, those days are over! haha.
DeleteGreat info.! I rarely dream and can never remember them when I do ... goes along with memory probs. I'm also of the age (lol) where I can sweat my butt off in bed and is why I keep my house at 68 at night. The colder the better :-) I wish I could be like Keith and sleep 8 hrs. a night but the bathroom calls me too often. ha. My neuro doc started me on max strength Melatonin and it's been a huge help .... that and the room darkening curtains. I learned #2 after surgery but #12 is really interesting and would've never known it w/o your post.
ReplyDeleteMarla
The boys take Melatonin to sleep at night...it's even time released to make sure they don't wake up at 4am any more. haha.
DeleteThat's very helpful! Does it have to be a prescip. to be time released?
DeleteNo, it is over the counter and very inexpensive. We get it online at swansonhealthproducts.com
Deletelove this....funny it doesn't mention pets in bed.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought so, too! I don't mind them by my feet but Star tries to share my pillow, which I won't allow any longer. haha.
DeleteDinky sleeps cheek to cheek with me sometimes, but her purr is a bit loud. It's like sleeping with a motorbike!
DeleteSorry, with it's engine running. . . .
DeleteI remember my dreams most of the time
ReplyDeleteA few even lead to a book chime
Who came up with the stat of men dreaming of men and women of equal gender
Dreaming in black and white must be a mind bender
I guess old farts need less sleep
At least they can get more done at their keep
Some of my dreams even continue from night to night
Pretty weird as some take flight
I need to leave pen and paper beside my bed
Deleteso I can write them down before they leave my head!
Dreams that continue from night to night?
I hope that doesn't give you fright.
If it's a good dream, then that would be nice!
A chapter a night for a really good price. haha.
haha a chapter a night for free
DeleteSure works for me
Yup. You're right. It's because of predators. Look at this site. Awww.
ReplyDeletewww.boredpanda.com/giraffes-shortest-sleeping-animal/
Aw, That does not look comfortable! I wonder why they don't take turns stretching out and sleeping while one stands guard. Someone ought to tell them that idea. lol....
DeleteHow on Earth would someone go without sleep for ten days? I think I would just fall asleep no matter what! Maybe medication or something?
ReplyDeleteYeah...good question. I wonder how they know that! Yikes!
DeleteThat is so interesting! I wonder how many hours a cat sleeps a day. I think quite a few! I can't imagine going without sleep for 10 days. I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, because I got called into work. One night of that is enough for me!
ReplyDeleteI think I read somewhere once that cats sleep 70% of their day. Sounds about right. haha.
DeleteWhen the triplets were newborns we got 4 hours of sleep a night (not all in one block of time, though) haha...we were like walking dead people, that is for sure! Hope you don't get called into work tonight!
I always remember my dreams...does that make me special.????:)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteThese are some interesting facts. I wonder if there is a fact about about people falling asleep driving. I did that once and woke myself up running off the road. Very scary! And I've come close to it several times since then. Always between 2 and 4 in the afternoon. So now if I know I'm going to be on the road during those hours, I start drinking something with caffeine.
ReplyDeleteI only did that once when I had a baby at home at went back to work full time with lots of overtime. Scared me to death. But that was in the evening. The afternoon? Yes, girlfriend...get yourself some caffeine! lol.....
DeleteLol!! I've grown fond of iced coffee!
DeleteHi Betsy - interesting facts ... I need hours of sleep - way more than 6 ... but I must learn at night to turn the radio off - in the last few years I seem to have it on all the time ... Running of the road as Laurie says is something I struggle with now-a-days when I'm driving long distances ... I'd love to wake up in a bed of cats and know I can linger longa with them! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWell, if the radio helps you sleep, then I say keep it on! And yes...stay on the road! Drink caffeine! haha... I do agree it is cozy to have a cat snuggled up to you...unless they have to knead your body with their claws before settling down. hahaha...
DeleteFascinating stuff. I used to be able to cope with about 5 hours most nights, but can't do that now. And it's really irritating that some reams fade so quickly; others, perhaps not! I heard that sharks don't sleep - no idea whether that's true.
ReplyDeleteThe article said that fish sleep....don't know if that includes sharks. Since they don't close their eyes, it's hard to tell! hahaha....
DeleteWhat an interesting post. I love everything about being a Mom with one exeption - the sleep deprivation!! I went through a huge sleep deprivation with Steve and I still haven't recover and I probably won't ... lol. I dream a lot. In colours with sounds and even! speaking foreign languages that I do not know. In the dreams it sounds perfectly correct ... haha. And I agree sleep deprivation is much worse than food deprivation! Well here is to sound sleeps full of sweet dreams (ps: absolutely hate to be waken up from a lovely dream and not to be able to get back to it ) ...
ReplyDeleteI do agree! When the triplets were newborn and Taylor was 2, we lived like zombies. So little sleep for a long time. You really do feel half dead and probably don't truly recover! Hope you have lovely sleep while on your holiday! :)
DeleteI cannot even imagine that! I was always the only one to wake up and to take care and I cannot i imagine that 3x + 2 y/o!!! I think I would not survive it :-) weren't you so grateful for coffee then? ;-) I had to laugh this morning when I woke up. My head still full of the so many and crazy dreams I had last night (even though they say that the dream takes just a few minutes actually which does not feel like it does it?). I wonder if you found somewhere the information about why do we dream?
DeleteYou would enjoy www.dreammoods.com ! You can type in a word about your dream and find out the meaning! Very interesting. I use it all the time. Most of the time it is right on as far as what I might be thinking about or worrying about!
DeleteNo, I didn't look up why we dream. I heard one time that it is a way for your body to release stress.
Oh thank you, I will check it! If dreaming is our stress releaser then ... oh dear I dream a lot :-0
DeleteVery, very interesting. I have to disagree with #3. I need 8-10 hours. I love your captions after each one. You are so cute and clever.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're just younger than you think, Wanda! haha. I can't imagine only needed 6 hours or less. Seems like that would catch up with you eventually!
DeleteI had a very interesting dream last night..... but like you said....can't remember it this morning. I know it involved my daughter and a gal from church that has never met Jill. But the story line...can't remember. bummer....
DeleteThat happens to me a lot....just enough detail remembered to make you want to remember more!
DeleteI like Suzanne's idea of a pen and paper on the nightstand. You could scribble a few words in the middle of the night to jog your memory in the morning!
Some of my dreams are so vivid, I remember them long enough to write them down in detail.
ReplyDeleteWell now, that could be very interesting! :)
DeleteVery much!
DeleteOur elderly dog has turn my life upside down. It is like having a new born baby again. He takes a lot of night care and I love him so it will be done. My lack of sleep is taking its toll on me though. I guess I need more naps.
ReplyDelete