Historical re-enactment:
Posted on 07/18/2006 10:18:23 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows
You Sleep Less Than You Think You Do
White Women Sleep Most, Black Men Sleep Least By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD on Thursday, July 06, 2006
July 6, 2006 -- You're getting less sleep than you think, a study of 669 people in Chicago, shows.
Ask most folks, and they'll say they get less sleep than they like.
But if you then ask how long they sleep, they're likely to say they get more sleep than they really do.
That's what University of Chicago researcher Diane S. Lauderdale, PhD, and colleagues found when they strapped sensitive movement detectors to the wrists of 38- to 50-year-olds who volunteered for a long-term study of heart diseaseheart disease.
Based on the wristwatch-sized instruments -- and on detailed sleep logs kept by each study participant -- Lauderdale's team measured how long people slept, how long it took them to get to sleep, how much time they spent in bed, and how much of their time in bed they slept.
The Findings
Averaging 6 hours and 42 minutes a night, white women slept longest -- but not as long as the seven hours they claimed to sleep on weeknights. They also got to sleep fastest (in about 13 minutes), spent the most time in bed (nearly eight hours), and slept most efficiently (85.7% of their time in bed).
Black men slept least: only 5 hours and 6 minutes a night. That was even less than the six hours they said they got on weeknights. They also took longest to fall asleep (about 36 minutes), spent the least time in bed (about seven hours), and slept least efficiently (73.2% of their time in bed).
These gender and racial differences persisted even when the researchers took various factors, such as income and employment, into account. However, lower income was associated with taking longer to get to sleep and lower sleep efficiency.
"People who make more money may have fewer worries, or they may have more control over their sleep environment," Lauderdale says.
Lauderdale and colleagues report their findings in the July issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Accompanying the study is an editorial by sleep expert Stuart F. Quan, MD, of the University of Arizona.
Sleep Deprivation in Blacks?
Quan notes that the sleep time and sleep efficiency Lauderdale saw in black Americans would merit a diagnosis of sleep deprivation.
But, "caution should be exercised before accepting these values as normative for all middle-aged African-Americans and Caucasians," he warns.
Lauderdale and colleagues agree with Quan that the sleep levels they found cannot be considered normal for all black Americans. However, they say they are the first to include a significant number of black Americans in a sleep study.
"We also agree that persons in northern metropolitan areas might sleep less than other persons," they write. "However, there are a great many people in such settings."
Bottom line: "People don't get enough sleep, and they get less sleep than they think," Lauderdale says, in a news release.
Ping!
I'd get more sleep if my patients would stop moaning and screaming in fearsome cries for help.
Translation: We don't trust the data we gathered. Give us another grant and we'll try to do better next time.
"You Sleep Less Than You Think You Do"
Only when driving...
If they include the percentage of the time I fall asleep sitting at the computer, as bed efficiency time, my numbers should be able to push overal male sleep efficiency over 100%.
The article failed to mention that illegals sleep an average of 10 hours and 14 minutes a night.
Just doing the delta waving and R.E.M. Americans won't do.
/s
control over one's sleep environment you say?
She felt vulnerable in the darkness until she snuggled up next to the pillow she fondly referred to as the “furnace“. As she slowly slipped off to sleep, thoughts of things she needed to remember for the next day popped into her mind. Errands to run, calls to make and mail to drop off all prevented her from the rest she so craved. She tossed about for a while then finally settled and drifted off to sleep.
The quiet and peace of the moment was suddenly interrupted. A heavy panting in the distance moved closer up the bed. The intruders careful steps crept up on top of her covers until she could feel the moist breath just above her face. She snuggled closer to the furnace in an effort to dodge the intruders next move a minute too late. The sloppy tongue began licking. Droplets of spit flicked her in the eye and she burrowed down deeper. When would the assault end?
In frustration she sat up and said, “ Two words, Wendy! Breath Mint! Now go find some.” With that the clumsy retriever clambered off the bed, tail between her legs, to her rightful spot on the floor.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ.....
Huh? Wha?
ZZZZZZZZZZZ.....
I think they meant seconds.
I visited one of you guys today... tooth still numb...
Don't forget the afternoon siestas.
There's a Ted Kennedy joke in there somewhere....
Pity. ;-)
Historical re-enactment:
I have to back for more 'treatment'! ;)
LOL - Kitty on the Keyboard Alert!
Sleep? I only do that when I'm out of caffeine.
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