TRUTH ABOUT SLEEP.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1424, 8 November 1923, Page 3

TRUTH ABOUT SLEEP.

It is often recorded (writes “A Doctor” in an English paper) of Napoleon, Wellington, Frederick the Great, and many other famous men that they could keep well on an average of four or five hours of sleep per night. Arguing from this, it is often supposed that to be able to do without sleep is the hallmark of superior ability.

There is no greater mistake. History abounds in examples, equally illuminating, which point to the other extreme. The great Dr. Johnson, for example, although he probably retired late, was seldom out of bed until the afternoon; Lord Nelson rarely slept less than ten hours; and Charles Darwin, notwithstanding the monumental work of his lifetime, could not work for more than three hours a day. It is a fallacy to try to measure sleep by hours, because the quality is extremely variable. And it is quality that counts.

As a general rule the depth of sleep is in inverse ratio to its duration. An exceptionally heavy sleeper may find four or five hours sufficient, while a light sleeper may require twice as long. Sleep is a period of rest for both body and brain, and it is sweetest and most refreshing when both are equally fatigued. With a weary brain in a restless body sleep is usually difficult, and, when it does come, disturbed and ineffectual. This also is true when the muscles are tired but the mind remains alert.

During this resting stage the blood is busy removing the fatigue products which have drugged the nerve-centres and temporarily destroyed their efficiency. When this removal is complete sleep has served Nature’s purpose, and so comes to an end. Obviously this process varies in different individuals. Just as human beings differ in the way they eat, or talk, or work, so they differ in the way they sleep. The old tag about an hour of sleep before midnight being worth two after probably owes its origin to those who are inclined to sit up too late. By going to bed before midnight they naturally sleep longer. There is no evidence to prove that "early to bed early to rise” brings any special reward in its train. If we believe in it at all it is only,becauss we associate early rising with industry and late rising with laziness.

On the other hand, some people (though they are a small minority) sleep too much. Natural sleep is 'always associated with temporary anaemia of the brain and if sleep be too prolonged the brain will be slow to regain its normal activity.