FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW

ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF

SLEEP DISORDERS, SHIFT WORKERS ARE AT INCREASED

RISK FOR A VARIETY OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES SUCH AS

CARDIOVASCULAR AND GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES.

IN OTHER WORDS, AND DESPITE WHAT YOUR BOSS

MIGHT TELL YOU, THE BODY NEVER ADJUSTS TO

SHIFT WORK

CATS SLEEP AWAY OVER SEVENTY PERCENT OF THEIR

LIVES. NO WONDER THEY SUPPOSEDLY HAVE NINE LIVES

MICHAEL JACKSON HAD GONE SIXTY DAYS WITHOUT

REM SLEEP, WHICH INEVITABLY LED TO HIS DEATH.

HE WAS BEING TREATED FOR HIS INSOMNIA WITH

THE ANAESTHETIC PROPOFOL, WHICH PUT HIM

INTO A COMA-LIKE SLEEP, BUT DEPRIVED HIM

OF REM SLEEP. AN OVERDOSE OF THE DRUG

KILLED THE SINGER. DR. CHARLES CZEISLER OF

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL TESTIFIED THAT

JACKSON’S LACK OF REM SLEEP WOULD HAVE

KILLED HIM SOON IF THE DRUG HADN’T

IT’S SCIENTIFICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SNEEZE

WHILE SLEEPING. WHY? AS WE FALL ASLEEP, THE

BODY RELAXES PARTS OF OUR BRAIN THAT ARE

RESPONSIBLE FOR REACTING TO CERTAIN STIMULI.

ONE OF THESE IS THE PART THAT TRIGGERS THE

REFLEX FOR SNEEZING

RANDY GARDNER IS THE HOLDER OF THE SCIENTIFICALLY

DOCUMENTED RECORD FOR THE LONGEST PERIOD A

HUMAN HAS INTENTIONALLY GONE WITHOUT SLEEP

WITHOUT USING STIMULANTS OF ANY KIND. IN 1964,

GARDNER, A SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENT IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, STAYED AWAKE

FOR 264.4 HOURS (ELEVEN DAYS, TWENTY-FOUR

MINUTES). AFTER FOURTEEN HOURS OF SLEEP HE

CLAIMED HE HAD FULLY RECOVERED

IT TAKES ONLY FIVE MINUTES FOR YOU TO FORGET

HALF THE DREAMS YOU HAD AFTER YOU WAKE UP.

ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER OVER NINETY PERCENT

OF THEM ARE ALREADY FORGOTTEN

YOU MIGHT GET THE IMPRESSION OF DREAMING ABOUT

PEOPLE YOU NEVER MET OR KNOW BUT IN REALITY

WE CAN DREAM ONLY OF FACES WE HAVE SEEN BEFORE

EVEN IF WE CAN’T REMEMBER THEM WHILE AWAKE

SOME CAR RENTAL CONTRACTS IN THE US MAKE YOU

SIGN A DOCUMENT WHERE YOU PROMISE NOT TO

DRIVE THEIR CAR WITH LESS THAN SIX HOURS OF SLEEP