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Lack of sleep = bad


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Why we're not immune to losing sleep

Lack of sleep could be worse for the body than we thought, at least if humans react to it in the same way as rats do

Tarja Porkka-Heiskanen of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and her team discovered that rats seem to mount an immune response to sleep deprivation, producing molecules that ordinarily are associated with stress. This suggests that chronic sleep deprivation could lead to stress-related illness, such as heart disease, for example.

 

Porkka-Heiskanen's team was studying how the brain triggers "recovery" sleep to overcome the effects of sleep loss. Their earlier work in rats had shown that levels of nitric oxide increase in the basal forebrain during periods of sleep deprivation and that this plays a role in prompting recovery sleep.

 

They had also found that an enzyme called nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was responsible for jump-starting the production of nitric oxide.

 

But where was the NOS enzyme coming from? Porkka-Hieskanen had expected that the NOS produced by the brain would be in a so-called "constitutive form", in other words, it would be made regardless of the need for it.

 

Instead, her team found that the NOS was in an "inducible form" (iNOS) which is usually produced when the body mounts an immune response to stress (European Journal of Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.05019.x). "This was a big surprise," says Porkka-Heiskanen. "It means that the body experiences sleep deprivation as some kind of hostile threat."

 

The researchers also found that the rats began producing iNOS after being deprived of sleep for just 10 minutes. "So even short periods of sleep deprivation are able to create this reaction," says Porkka-Heiskanen. "If it becomes chronic, we are really putting a big strain on the body."

 

OBSCVRVM PER OBSCVRIVS ET IGNOTVM PER IGNOTIVS

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OPVS ARTIFICEM PROBAT

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To many games to play.

 

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

:p

Agreed!

 

But if this has a granule of truth, that may not be as far off as you or I think... :thumbsup:

I had thought that some of nature's journeymen had made men and not made them well, for they imitated humanity so abominably. - Book of Counted Sorrows

 

'Cause I won't know the man that kills me

and I don't know these men I kill

but we all wind up on the same side

'cause ain't none of us doin' god's will.

- Everlast

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I love my sleep. I usually get six or seven hours a night, plus some nap time during the day...I love college.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

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I haven't slept all night, and I have things to do today. 

 

I never get enough sleep, and my health is excellent.

 

But you're like, sixteen.

 

Everyone's healthy at sixteen unless they actively try to ruin their own health.

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who had only 4.2 hours sleep for 10 consecutive nights, hints at the dangers. Levels of a molecule related to iNOS called C-reactive protein were raised in the volunteers - a strong predictor of heart disease.

I better buy some more life insurance, hubby's a gonner w/his sleep apnea stuff. :blink:

“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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I love sleep. Currently getting about 10-12 hours a night ... the best feeling is deciding in the morning that I don't feel like waking up just yet and rolling over for another hour or so of sleep ... :D

 

interestingly, I decided to drink coffee last week (bought myself a new Bialetti Moka Express and some Lavazza), and I found it much harder to get up in the morning ... then again, it's not like i have to get up in the morning ... :p"

OBSCVRVM PER OBSCVRIVS ET IGNOTVM PER IGNOTIVS

ingsoc.gif

OPVS ARTIFICEM PROBAT

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I haven't slept all night, and I have things to do today. 

 

I never get enough sleep, and my health is excellent.

 

But you're like, sixteen.

 

Everyone's healthy at sixteen unless they actively try to ruin their own health.

 

lol guilty.

Lou Gutman, P.I.- It's like I'm not even trying anymore!
http://theatomicdanger.iforumer.com/index....theatomicdanger

One billion b-balls dribbling simultaneously throughout the galaxy. One trillion b-balls being slam dunked through a hoop throughout the galaxy. I can feel every single b-ball that has ever existed at my fingertips. I can feel their collective knowledge channeling through my viens. Every jumpshot, every rebound and three-pointer, every layup, dunk, and free throw. I am there.

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Well, I can tell none of you have been in the army, right? The first thing you learn is to fall asleep. Anywhere, anytime, any position. I can sleep standing. I (probably) need less than a minute to fall asleep if I want to sleep (this annoys the hell out of my girlfriend who has a much harder time to fall asleep). It's very practical.

 

Usually I get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

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Well, I can tell none of you have been in the army, right? The first thing you learn is to fall asleep. Anywhere, anytime, any position. I can sleep standing. I (probably) need less than a minute to fall asleep if I want to sleep (this annoys the hell out of my girlfriend who has a much harder time to fall asleep). It's very practical.

So how do you do that? I'm one of those people that needs like at least an hour to fall asleep. I could sure use those l33t sleeping skillz.

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I acrtually don't know. The way they "taught" us that in the army was that the officers told us to "get sleep whenever you can" and then they forced us to work for weeks on end without proper sleep. You eventually got used to that weird rhythm and were able to fall asleep as soon as you got a free minute. Then an officer would come along ten minutes later and yell at you, and you'd be back at work. Repeat ad nauseum, and TADA, you've learnt how to fall asleep in no-time.

 

I remember sleeping standing, leaned against a tree while on "guard duty". Hannibal and his elephant army could have walked past my guard sentry post.

Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish!

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Get out!

 

Just because he's hot- I mean, kind of good looking, doesn't mean I like him.

Lou Gutman, P.I.- It's like I'm not even trying anymore!
http://theatomicdanger.iforumer.com/index....theatomicdanger

One billion b-balls dribbling simultaneously throughout the galaxy. One trillion b-balls being slam dunked through a hoop throughout the galaxy. I can feel every single b-ball that has ever existed at my fingertips. I can feel their collective knowledge channeling through my viens. Every jumpshot, every rebound and three-pointer, every layup, dunk, and free throw. I am there.

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I can fall asleep sitting on the floor behind the passenger seat of an automobile.

 

It helps to be small.

“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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