Do you struggle for more sleep?
The obvious answer? Old mattress. Noisy neighbors. Or maybe you need to stop Twittering and Facebooking until the wee hours and just go to bed…
But have you considered that your sleep challenges are genetic.
This week Forbes Magazine published an article based on research by the University of California in San Francisco. After becoming intimately acquainted with 700 people’s sleep habits they discovered 2 people who (yes, only 2) who functioned normally on less sleep. While most of us suffer serious health challenges with prolonged sleep deprivation, these 2 sailed through their days without any side effects.
Further investigation lead to the discovery of a gene that actually controls the need for sleep. What’s important is not that we can function with very little sleep, but that the ability to do so without risking health is rare. Much rarer than originally thought.
You may only sleep 6 hours a night, but your body probably needs 8 and is storing up that sleep deprivation for the first opportunistic illness that wanders by.
Researchers have begun the painstaking process of connecting this gene to disorders like sleep apnea and narcolepsy. People who suffer from sleep apnea (characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep) face a high risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and heart attack. Narcolepsy suffers fall asleep spontaneously through the day and can’t sleep long enough to recharge their bodies.
Even restless leg syndrome, nightmares and sleepwalking are now thought to be connected to a gene variation.
If you’d like to read the full details of the study, visit Forbes online. To learn more about how to ensure your sleep is as healthy as possible, visit Natura’s Healthy Sleep Center.
If you have questions about how Natura can help with your sleep health, reach out to us on any of these channels:
- Contact us online
- Call us: 800-215-3002
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Catherine Connors and JD Andrews✩, Julia Rosien. Julia Rosien said: Why do some people sleep better than others? Might be more about genetics than stress: http://tinyurl.com/yk3jz9z [...]
Great, now I’m stressing about genetics. Seriously though, good article and I like that your sourced where you found the info for this article. Too many manufacturers don’t share the way Natura does.
I’ve always wondered why I’m more energetic in the morning than I am later in the day. Maybe it’s true that some people really are just morning people – and that fighting it is a losing battle.
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lanny_S: Y do sum ppl zzz better than others? Might B more .. http://tinyurl.com/yk3jz9z via@earthXplorer @JuliaRosien – Forbes
Like so many areas of our life, we’ve lost the ability to read what our body truly needs. THanks to preservaties, we don’t know when we’re hungry – or just thirsty. I guess it’s no surprise that sleep falls into this net too – but it is sad.
Thanks for all the comments everyone!
Sleep is one of those issues that we don’t worry about until we’re not getting enough of it. Sadly, we’ve lost sight of the fact that our lifestyle may be causing long-term health issues.
No job is worth shortening your life for, right?
Cool post! It was very informative, thank you.
Glad you found the site Kayla. Let us know if you have any questions about our natural and organic sleep enhancers – bedding that’s good for you and good for the environment!