Quality sleep, key to living well and long

2010/05/23 Aulestiarte Lete, Izaro - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Osasuna

In our longevity can influence several factors, but the quality of sleep is fundamental.

We have heard many times that in old age there are problems sleeping well, so you do not devote much time to sleep. However, researchers at Portland State University in Oregon have found that most healthy adults have the right sleep. “Therefore, sleep problems in old age are probably due to a series of physiological and psychosocial factors, but not derived from natural aging,” they say.

The research has been based on an extensive survey conducted in 2005 in China, the oldest country in the world. 15,638 people over 65 years of age (including 3,927 people between 90 and 99 years of age and 2,794 people over 100 years of age). It has been analyzed the duration and quality of the dream of all, and the biggest surprise has been given by the older ones, of which 70% has shown a higher degree of satisfaction. Participants spend an average of 7.5 hours on sleep, while those over 100 tend to sleep three times longer for ten hours. As for sex, researchers have seen that men sleep better than women.

A team of American researchers leverages data from a survey conducted in China to analyze the quality of sleep, the oldest country. (Photo: Steve Evans ) .

Good health, the health care we receive, the company, places of residence, economic status… everything can influence our longevity. However, according to American experts, quality sleep is the key to living long and healthy.

Lost lost hours lost

To further deepen the topic of rest, members of the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston have conducted an investigation. Because its consequences come to deny something that has often been thought or heard: after a few days or weeks of rest, even after sleeping many more hours on the weekend, our body does not recover.

When we wake up, we can think that we have had a deep, restful sleep. But experts say there are many myths and that the chronic loss of the accumulated sleep for a long time is not cured so easily. “When those who cannot sleep suddenly sleep a whole night, their bodies suffer even more imbalance. You can’t recover your sleep, so it’s better to learn to sleep well,” summary.

In addition to healthy, experts believe that nap can help in learning processes. (Photo: Esteban Salazar ) .

For perhaps for this last recommendation we could also take advantage of the nap itself. In fact, a group of researchers at the Harvard Medical School explained that among good learning methods, the same siesta should also be taken into account. Siestes, who dream of something they have learned at the time (for example, a task), when they wake up, can do better. Those who have not slept or even dreamed of something get worse.

“Sleep has often been considered as entertainment. But, in addition to healthy, what our research suggests is that siesta is a by-product of memory processing,” the researchers said. That is, they believe that our brain is also working on the nap, and that dreams are proof of it.

Researchers continue to try to figure out why we dream or what is the function of dreams. However, to this day, they have highlighted the advantages that they can offer to the learning processes. It may be better to learn before you go to sleep, and also that after you've been learning harshly, nap.

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