Many of us fight sleep. Here's why we should stop

Doctors are increasingly waking up to the idea that getting enough sleep is crucial. In 2022, the American Heart Association advised physicians that asking patients how many hours they sleep is as important as checking their blood pressure, smoking status, diet and exercise habits.

These ‘molecular clocks’ in our brain and in every cell modulate our body systems, including hormones, blood pressure, blood glucose and body temperature. Naturally early risers, or morning ‘larks,’ do best when they can wake up early and sleep early. ‘Night owls’ do best if they can sleep until later in the morning.

All animals sleep, but it can look widely different depending on the species. According to a Boston University database of the sleep characteristics of 133 mammalian species, red kangaroos sleep for just under two hours in a 24-hour period, while armadillos and bats can sleep for nearly 20 hours. Some animals, including dolphins and whales, engage in unihemispheric sleep — one half of the brain sleeps at a time to allow them to be constantly alert.

During this time, some kinds of memories are consolidated. Memory traces are transferred from a temporary store in the hippocampus to the cortex. Light exposure to the optic nerves triggers the release of cortisol and other circadian cues that help start the process of waking up. One US study of more than 6,800 road accidents found that drivers who slept less than four hours the night before an accident were 15 times more likely to be at fault than drivers who had slept at least seven hours.

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