The world record of no sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory lapses. People can take cat naps with their eyes open (I have personally witnessed this and it is creepy), so without medical supervision it is really impossible to tell if someone is really awake or not. More Sleep Facts ..... Read more »
I Like Dreaming Lucid Dreaming
What is a lucid dream? A lucid dream is when the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. A lucid dream can begin as a normal dream and then the dreamer can control how the dream ends. Have you ever changed how your dream was ending and decided to go back to another part of the dream and start over? This type of lucid dream is known as dream-initiated lucid dream or DILD. Another type of lucid dream is wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) that occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no lapse in consciousness. Dreams are very important to sleep. According to an article published in the Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Dr. J. Allan Hobson, a psychiatrist and long time sleep researcher disputed the main function of the rapid-eye-movement sleep cycle (REM) where most dreaming occurs, is physiological. Read more »
National Sleep Awareness Week
The National Sleep Foundation campaign to promote the importantance of sleep is sponsoring the National Sleep Awareness Week, March 7-13, 2011, which ends with the clock changing to Daylight Saving Time when most Americans lose one hour of sleep. Some 70 million Americans have a sleep problem in which 40 million adults suffer from a chronic sleep disorder and in addition 20 to 30 million have an intermittent sleep related problem. Read more »
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder RBD
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder RBD is a parasomnia that causes abnormal behavior during the rapid eye movement sleep phase (REM). Wikipedia defined a parasomnia that is categorized as a sleep disorder involving abnormal and unnatural movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions and dreams that occur while falling asleep easy, sleeping, between sleep stages (NREM or REM), or during arousal from sleep. Read more »
Narcolepsy is a Daytime Sleep Disorder
What is narcolepsy? According to WebMD, narcolepsy is a daytime sleep disorder which neurologically affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. In other words, people experience uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep easy during the day, anytime of day. Typically when we fall asleep it takes about ninety minutes for rapid eye movement sleep (REM), narcoleptics REM sleep occurs right away. Researchers have discovered irregularities in various parts of the brain involved in regulating REM sleep patterns. These irregularities apparently contribute to the occurrence of narcoleptic symptoms. Experts believe there are many factors causing narcolepsy that act together causing neurological dysfunction and REM sleep disturbances. Read more »
When I need to sleep I cannot When I need to work I can sleep
When you’re struggling to meet the demands of a job and family life, cutting back on sleep can seem like the only answer. But if you find that you can’t fall asleep at night and are drowsy during the day you may be suffering from insomnia. Your body’s internal clock works on a 24 hour cycle in which sleep consists of a series of stages that will restore and energize your body and mind. If you do not get the required amount of sleep it will take a toll on your mood, productivity and ability to handle stress. If you want to stay health and perform to your potential sleep is necessary. So why is it when you need to sleep you cannot and when you need to work you can sleep? Let’s look at what is going on when you are sleeping, how to determine the amount of sleep you need and what you can do to correct you sleep/wake cycle and stop the insomnia insanity! Read more »