How many people can go without sleep?

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It’s no secret that we spend a third of our lives sleeping. To most, this seems natural, but some cannot come to terms with such a “pointless” waste of a valuable resource – time. And here a logical question arises – is it really necessary for a person to sleep at all and how much? For example, the Vietnamese Ngo Thai has not slept for 40 years and feels good about it. What is it – an exception or an example of the true capabilities of our body?

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How many people can go without sleep?

The official world record belongs to the American Randy Gardner, which is even recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. It all started with an ordinary school science project. A couple of schoolchildren decided in December 1963 to test how sleep deprivation could affect cognition and overall performance. And on whom is it even better to put experience, if not on yourself? And on January 8, 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner set a record. The young man was able to stay awake for 264 hours and 25 minutes, that is, more than 11 days.

At the end of the experiment, the young experimenter even called a press conference at which he shared his feelings throughout the experiment. Then Gardner was sent to the hospital, they did an electroencephalogram and studied his brain waves. After 14 hours of sound sleep, the student resumed his usual activities.

I must say that enthusiasts have repeatedly tried to repeat and even break the record. Here are just representatives of the Guinness Book of Records refused to record new “insomnia”, because this can directly negatively affect the health of the experimenter. So it is so reliable and it is not known how many people can do without sleep. In 2007, the record was updated by the Englishman Tony Wright, who was able to stay awake for 274 hours.

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What is the effect of sleep on the body?

It must be understood that sleep is a natural rest for the body. During this period, the brain processes and resaves the information accumulated in it. During deep sleep, the body produces growth hormone, somatotropin. Also, staying in this state improves our cognitive abilities, increases stress resistance, the ability to concentrate, and activates the immune system.

But how much exactly you need to sleep is a purely individual question. In general, scientists recommend resting for 7-8 hours, but in winter you want to extend this time. Scientists at Tulane University, New Orleans, believe that just this amount of sleep can reduce the risk of developing heart failure by up to 42%.

There are other reasons why the body’s natural need for sleep should not be ignored. Its deficiency adversely affects the functioning of the brain. A person becomes irritable, his mood drops, immunity decreases, and the effectiveness of vaccination decreases. It can even reach medical problems: the risks of developing type 2 diabetes, obesity, and oncological diseases, including colon and breast cancer, increase. Lack of sleep leads to muscle atrophy, which does not have time to restore their tone.

Other scientists, this time from the University of Pennsylvania, found that getting less than six hours of sleep per night can lead to dehydration and associated headaches. The reason lies in the lack of production of the hormone vasopressin. It not only helps the fluid stay in our body, but also helps the nervous and cardiovascular systems work. That is why people feel so bad when they do not get enough sleep. This study cites a journal with the characteristic title Sleep. Sleep disturbance is especially dangerous in the elderly. Sleeping six or less hours a day in old age increases the risk of cognitive diseases and dementia. Such data are provided by Stanford scientists.

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What will happen to the body if you do not sleep for a long time?

Scientists at the University of California came to the conclusion that health will begin to fail seriously only on the seventh day of constant wakefulness. In general, a day and a half without sleep will not cause much harm – overall physical and mental activity will continue. Students during the session involuntarily often practice such “marathons”. Nevertheless, you should not test your body, because the first troubles with it will begin to occur on the first day of insomnia.

1 day without sleep. A person begins to experience fatigue, his mood changes dramatically, irritability appears. Concentration is lost, memory worsens. In the blood, the level of sugar and stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol) increases.
2 days without sleep. Cognitive features are deteriorating, fatigue is becoming more and more pronounced, vigilance and the ability to reason are reduced. A person can unconsciously fall into microsleep for a few seconds.
3 days without sleep. Mood even more loses in stability. Cognitive abilities noticeably deteriorate, a person has difficulty communicating, he manifests paranoia.
4 days without sleep. All actions take place against the background of distraction, it is difficult to perform even simple logical operations. A tremor appears in the limbs, the person becomes lethargic and even outwardly looks bad.
5 days without sleep. All body systems are under severe stress. Mental and physiological disorders can even cause death. Chronic diseases come to the fore, which can destroy the body.

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Conclusion

Multiple studies and experiments have confirmed the importance and necessity of sleep for human health. The lack of such rest immediately starts the flywheel of increasing the risks of a whole scattering of diseases, and chronic diseases wake up. It is no coincidence that sleep deprivation torture has always been popular and is still used today. You should not regret the time spent on sleep – this is part of life, albeit unconscious, we need.