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[InTheNightlight]

Sleep: Strange Bedfellows
Peculiar facts about shut-eye.
By PsychologyToday.com
What really happens when your head hits the pillow? Sure, sleep fulfills some very basic needs—like maintaining your physical and mental health, not to mention preparing you for those crucial daytime hours. But a lot more happens after the lights go out. Did you know that sleep affects your memory, your heart, and even the health of your teeth? Here, we unveil some of sleep's strangest facts.

Flexing memory

From a special vacation to a holiday gathering, long-term memories are predominantly formed during sleep when the brain replays recent experiences. But how do you remember what happens when? According to researchers at the University of Lubeck in Germany, shut-eye not only strengthens a memory's content but also the sequence in which they are experienced. Students were presented sets of words in a particular order. One group of these students was allowed to sleep and another was not. Those who were allowed to sleep could more often recall the order of words than those who were not allowed to sleep.

Sleep to a better beat

A good night's sleep is essential for a healthy ticker. Lack of sleep can lead to hypertension, a condition in which blood pressure is chronically elevated. Of course, with it comes a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Even normal, healthy people, who are persistently deprived of proper sleep, suffer increased risk of hypertension, say researchers at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Ongoing sleep deprivation can set up chemical and hormonal changes in the body, including the release of stress hormones like adrenaline.

Snooze and smile

Tossing and turning can affect your smile. A Journal of Periodontology study shows that the amount of sleep you get can significantly affect your teeth. While smoking negatively impacted oral health the most, hours of sleep closely followed. The study tracked 219 Japanese factory workers from 1999 through 2003. Participants who slept seven to eight hours a night had less periodontal disease than those who slept six hours or less a night. Researchers speculate that sleep shortage impairs the body's immune system, something that can lead to bad teeth.

Sleep to your own rhythm

If you find yourself awake and energetic late at night, you may have a genetic mutation. The altered gene may explain why some people prefer late nights. This gene affects the body's circadian cycle—the clock that keeps our metabolism, digestion, and sleep patterns in sync. Researchers discovered abnormally long circadian rhythms in some mice lasting about 27 hours instead of the normal cycle of 24 hours. These mice had the mutated gene. Also, night owls who compensate by staying in bed longer still experience more insomnia than the rest of us. Also, night owls report feeling less in control of their sleep, which may also fuel insomnia.

Getting by with less

Some people can survive on very little sleep, while others require many hours to function normally. If you still perform relatively well when sleep-deprived, the reason could be your genes. In one study from the University of Surrey, some people struggled to stay awake after two days of no sleep while others had no problem whatsoever. The researchers looked into this further and gave the participants the opportunity to sleep normally; they found that some participants spend more time in slow-wave sleep, the deepest form of shut-eye. And for them carrying a sleep debt makes it that much harder to stay alert and function.

I found this on MSN.com and thought you all might like to see it!

[Lady Spritzy]

Funny thing, actually.
The "Sleep to your own rythm" section makes me think of my mom, brother, and myself.
My mom can't really stay up past 8-10 PM. However, she can wake up anywhere from 4-8 AM.
I can stay up 'till about 1-3 in the morning, depending on how much sleep I've gotten (although at sleepovers I've been able to easily stay up all night) When I do this, I end up sleeping in until 7-9 AM.
My brother, on the other hand, usually stays up until 3-5 in the morning playing WoW, but, (from what I've seen) doesn't get up until 10 AM-2 PM.
Weird, huh?

[Penelopi]

Pretty interesting stuff. Did you know that sleeping is also needed to regulate body temperature? In other words, if you are deprived of enough sleep, then you can end up feeling cold in your little sweater while everyone else is fine in their t-shirts. My dad actually has had that problem. He stays up late often because of his work.

[InTheNightlight]

And I found more this morning.

1. Chronic snoring can be treated by uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, a surgical procedure that tightens the tissues of the soft palate and throat. Possible side effects include changes in voice frequency.

2. Another option involves injecting the palate with a chemical to harden the soft tissue. This is called a snoroplasty, derived from the Greek word "plastos," meaning "molded," and somewhat lamely from the English word snore, meaning "snore."

3. Baaaad idea: A 2002 study by Oxford University researchers concluded, brilliantly, that the traditional practice of counting sheep is an ineffective cure for insomnia. The mental activity is so boring that other problems and concerns inevitably surface.

4. Mattresses have an average life span of eight to 10 years. They grow some nasty stuff in that time; one study links mattress bacteria to sudden infant death syndrome.

5. An adult bed bug can survive up to one year without feeding.

6. In 2004, Americans filled more than 35 million prescriptions for sleeping pills. The number of adults aged 20 to 44 taking pills to help them fall asleep has doubled in the last four years.

7. More than 100,000 car crashes in the United States each year result from drowsiness. Drivers talking on cell phones increase the rate by 6 percent, so don't call someone if you get tired.

8. Your alarm is set for 6 a.m. -- why do you wake up at 5:59 a.m.? The body's internal alarm clock, which enables some people to wake up naturally at the time they desire, is triggered by the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. The levels of this hormone begin to rise an hour or two before an expected wake-up call, to prepare the body gradually for the stress of waking up.

9. A six-year study of a million adults showed that people who get only six to seven hours of sleep a night have a lower death rate than those who get eight hours. Maybe it's those late nights watching QVC.

10. In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes, the officially recognized world record. He then slept for 15 hours -- not a record, but not bad.

11. Let's sleep on it first: In a gesture of integration with the European Union, Spain has launched a campaign to eliminate the tradition of siestas, or afternoon naps.

12. Thanks in part to their afternoon naps, Spaniards sleep an average of 40 minutes less per night than other Europeans. Spain also has the highest rate of workplace accidents in the EU and the third lowest productivity rate.

13. Who knew it was that easy? A Muslim couple in India is being forced to split up after the husband uttered the word "talaq," the Arabic word for divorce, three times in his sleep. According to Muslim law, the "triple talaq" is an actual divorce.

14. The idea that it is dangerous to wake a sleepwalker is a myth. Given the things sleepwalkers get up to do, like climb roofs and fix insanely large sandwiches, it is probably more risky not to wake them.

15. Whales and dolphins can literally fall half asleep. Their brain hemispheres alternate sleeping, so the animals can continue to surface and breathe.

16. Dreaming is related to bursts of electrical activity that blow through the brain stem every 90 minutes during REM sleep. Over a lifetime, an average person spends more than six years dreaming, clocking more than 136,000 dreams in all.

17. But nobody knows why we dream.

18. Hey, be glad she doesn't have a telethon: More than 5 million American children suffer from nocturnal enuresis, better known as bed wetting. Actress Suzanne Somers used to be one of them, according to her autobiography.

19. Somniphobia is the fear of sleep.

20. So far, there are no known celebrity somniphobes.

[DiENE]

My boyfriend used to stay up all night and sleep during the day and nothing for YEARS could get him to change his sleeping pattern, hes now out cold for 2 hours now, went to bed at 9:30 lol. But for a while I was convinced he just couldn't get to sleep at night, hes had a full time (overtime ) day job for 2 years now and that seemed to do the trick, only thing is. If its a genetic issue, I hope this isn't damaging him where his body thinks its a doing wrong by sleeping at night lol.

10. In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes, the officially recognized world record. He then slept for 15 hours -- not a record, but not bad.

Thats messed up, I remember hearing about one guy staying up for a week and he went delusional, literally insane, I think hes in a psych ward today or something lol. Sleep deprivation is BAD, its like frying your motherbrainboard)

[SmashQueen]

"Sleep to your own rhythm" and "Getting by with less" seem to apply to me. At 3 or 4 AM I get the most ideas for stories. I'm often restless at 1AM and I can't get to sleep until near 5AM. I have suffered from insomnia. I think I still do suffer a bit from it. As well, I can go on through a day with little sleep (but I need it!).

8. Your alarm is set for 6 a.m. -- why do you wake up at 5:59 a.m.? The body's internal alarm clock, which enables some people to wake up naturally at the time they desire, is triggered by the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. The levels of this hormone begin to rise an hour or two before an expected wake-up call, to prepare the body gradually for the stress of waking up.

Time and again that has helped me on days when my alarm clock has not gone off. I woke up about maybe 15 minutes later than I should, but I least I wasn't late on those days.