How much sleep do you really need?
-
0:00 - 0:02So far, we've spoken about
-
0:02 - 0:06all of the wonderful
benefits that sleep provides, -
0:06 - 0:09but how much sleep should
we actually be getting? -
0:09 - 0:12[Sleeping with Science]
-
0:12 - 0:14(Music)
-
0:14 - 0:17For the average adult,
the current recommendation -
0:17 - 0:21is somewhere between seven to nine
hours of sleep a night. -
0:21 - 0:25And what we've been finding
from large-scale epidemiological studies -
0:25 - 0:28is that, using that reference point
of seven to nine hours, -
0:28 - 0:30once you start to drop below that,
-
0:30 - 0:34your mortality risk
actually starts to increase. -
0:34 - 0:40In fact, the Center for Disease Control
in the United States, or the CDC, -
0:40 - 0:43they stipulate a minimum
of seven hours of sleep a night -
0:43 - 0:44for the average adult.
-
0:45 - 0:47In other words, the shorter your sleep,
-
0:47 - 0:49the shorter your life.
-
0:49 - 0:55But it turns out that it's not quite
a linear relationship as you would expect. -
0:55 - 0:58It's not as though the more
and more that you sleep, -
0:58 - 1:01the lower and lower
your mortality risk is. -
1:01 - 1:04In fact, something strange happens.
-
1:04 - 1:06Once you get past nine hours,
-
1:06 - 1:11you actually start to see
a rise back up in mortality risk, -
1:11 - 1:13which seems rather strange and peculiar.
-
1:13 - 1:19And scientists have actually put forward
at least two different explanations. -
1:19 - 1:23The first is that,
if you look at those studies, -
1:23 - 1:29it may be that individuals are suffering
from significant disease and illness. -
1:29 - 1:32When we become infected,
or we have disease, -
1:32 - 1:36typically, we try to sleep longer,
we stay in bed longer. -
1:36 - 1:37So in other words,
-
1:37 - 1:42it was the unmeasured disease
and sickness in those studies -
1:42 - 1:45that was triggering
a response in those individuals -
1:45 - 1:47to try and sleep more.
-
1:47 - 1:48That's one explanation.
-
1:48 - 1:52The second possible explanation
is poor sleep quality, -
1:52 - 1:55because we know that sleep quality,
-
1:55 - 1:58independent of sleep quantity,
-
1:58 - 2:02is also associated with mortality risk.
-
2:02 - 2:05And the lower that your
quality of sleep is, -
2:05 - 2:07the higher your risk of death.
-
2:07 - 2:12People who have poor quality of sleep
will typically try to sleep longer; -
2:12 - 2:17they'll try to stay in bed longer
to overcome that poor quality of sleep. -
2:17 - 2:23It may be poor quality of sleep
masquerading as long sleep -
2:23 - 2:26that is associated
with a higher risk of death, -
2:26 - 2:28rather than the long sleep itself.
-
2:28 - 2:33But if we take a step back
and think about society overall, -
2:33 - 2:37I think modernity is constantly pushing us
-
2:37 - 2:42to, perhaps, work long hours
and therefore neglect our sleep. -
2:42 - 2:46But if we want to be around
long enough to get the benefits -
2:46 - 2:50and the fruits of all of that hard labor,
-
2:50 - 2:54we may want to think about starting
to prioritize our sleep some more.
- Title:
- How much sleep do you really need?
- Speaker:
- Matt Walker
- Description:
-
You know you need to get enough sleep, but the question remains: How much is enough? Sleep scientist Matt Walker tells us the recommended amount for adults and explains why it's necessary for your long-term health.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED Series
- Duration:
- 02:54
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How much sleep do you really need? |