Volitional chronic sleep disorder

Continuing my blog on the danger of lack of sleep. This condition for most people living in fast-paced societies is a lifestyle disorder, known as the "volitional chronic sleep disorder." It is intriguing for me to read the article entitled "Rest... it's required" in the Sunday Star yesterday. Some points from the article I'd like to share:

• A psychiatry journal, the Archives of General Psychiatry (February 2002), came to a conclusion that "short sleep can hasten the arrival of the inevitable long sleep."
• The best amount of sleep is 7 hours. The worst is less than 4.5 hours. Too much (more than 9 hours) is also bad.
• Another study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (7 December 2004) found that lack of sleep prompts the decrease of the hormone leptin (crucial in signalling satiety) and the increase of the hormone ghrelin, thus increasing appetite. According to the study, "Chronic short sleep is the royal road to diabetes and obesity."
• Yet another study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (16 August 2006) found that those who sleep less than 5 hours per night were 5.5 pounds heavier than those who slept an average of 7 hours nightly.

So, there you have it folks. We have scientific proofs that inadequate sleep is unhealthy, leads to a number of chronic health problems, and can even shorten your life span.

Mental note to self: Must get enough sleep... must get enough sleep... must get eeennoouuggghhh zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz