On average, people spend around one third of their lives asleep. It punctuates every one of our days and is the first thing we do in the morning and the last thing we do at night.
Yet, due to the unconscious nature of humanity's favourite activity, it remains shrouded in mystery.
Everyone knows it's important, but clear answers on what is really needed to function properly can be hard to nail down with everyone claiming to have different needs when it comes to slumbering habits.
In order to put an end to the confusion, the Mirror spoke to two sleep experts - Dr Deborah Lee of Dr Fox Online Pharmacy and Heather Darwall-Smith, Psychotherapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy - to settle some of the biggest questions surrounding how much snoozing we need once and for all.
How much sleep do adults need?
Both experts agree that adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.
Psychotherapist Heather Darwall-Smith said: "Quality sleep is important for emotional regulation, memory consolidation, to strengthen your immune system to fight infection and more"
However Dr Deborah Lee added: "it's not just about sleep quantity – sleep quality is vitally important too.
"Having difficulty getting to sleep, having disrupted sleep, waking at night and not being able to get back to sleep, and sleep disorders are very common – and all contribute to poor quality sleep, meaning you wake in the morning feeling tired and unrefreshed."
She also adds that older adults, normally those over 65, can get by with a little less sleep than younger people only needing between seven and eight hours a night.
How much sleep do children need?
While the amount of sleep adults need to get by is fairly set in stone, both Dr Lee and Heather point to the hugely varying needs of children depending on their age.
Dr Lee broke down the age requirements by the hours of sleep they need:
- Newborn (0-3 months) needs 14-17 hours of sleep
- Infants (4-11 months) need 12-15 hours of sleep
- Toddlers (1-2 years) need 11-14 hours of sleep
- Preschool (3-5 years) need 10-13 hours of sleep
- School-aged children (6-13 years) need 9-11 hours of sleep
- Teenagers 14-17 years) need 8-10 hours of sleep
- Young Adults (18-25 years) need 7-9 hours of sleep
She added: "Babies and small children need so much more sleep than adults due to their rapid growth and development needs – especially for brain development.
"They are developing thinking and learning skills, as well as acquiring motor skills for their physical development."
What are the implications for people who cant get enough sleep?
Both Dr Deborah Lee and Heather Darwall-Smith point to a lack of sleep as a source for both long and short-term issues.
In the short term Dr Lee notes the following risks when people have a lack of sleep:
- Less alertness
- Feeling excessively sleepy during the day
- Poorer memory
- Irritability, moodiness, and flare up of temper – this can cause conflict and result in relationship problems
- Reduced quality of life – you feel less like joining in and feel less motivated to exercise
- Your reaction times is slowed – this increases your risk of accidents including Road Traffic Accidents
While the short term symptoms of a lack of sleep can decrease quality of your life, longer term implications can pose a serious threat to it.
Dr Lee notes heart disease (angina, heart attacks and strokes), high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, alzheimer’s disease, depression, loss of libido and poorer immune function all as possible outcomes.
She also points out that people who regularly sleep for less than seven hours a day are 12% more likely to die prematurely than those who hit the seven hour threshold.
Heather also highlights the implications that a lack of sleep can have on our weight. She said: "Unless you are a genetic short sleeper (very rare), getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night carries significant health risks.
"Lack of sleep affects your metabolism as it alters how the body processes glucose and how the hunger signals go awry. It can affect your weight due to the inversion of the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin.
"You will feel hungry but the brain doesn’t register fullness so well. There is increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes due to the potential lack of deep sleep.
What can I do if I can't get enough sleep?
When it comes to getting more sleep, Dr Lee points to improving sleep hygiene as a way to lock down a better sleeping pattern.
She said: "Very often, poor quality sleep is down to poor sleep hygiene. This is not to do with cleanliness! – it means any factors in your bedroom that are not conducive to good sleep."
These factors can affect your sleep hygiene, according to Dr Lee:
- A bedroom that is too hot, not dark enough, or poorly ventilated
- An old bed with a lumpy mattress
- Poor quality bedding – go for plain cotton sheets that transmit heat, and hypoallergenic bedding if you suffer from any allergies such as eczema, hay fever or asthma
- Inadequate pillows, lack of neck support
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Dry air that is not adequately humidified
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Too many interruptions from electrical devices - such as mobile phones, computers and TVs in the bedroom (blue light emitted from these devices prevent the release of the sleep hormone melatonin.)
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Noise – which can come from a variety of sources.
Heather also points to the power of napping: "I am pro-napping, especially for those who cannot sustain the time they need in bed to get what they need. It’s fine to top up with a 90-120 min nap (which allows for a full sleep cycle leading to restoration and repair) or a quick 20-25 min nap.
"Try to nap before 4pm so you don’t reduce your sleep pressure, which will reduce sleepiness at bedtime.
"If you have insomnia it is helpful not to nap so that you can build sleep pressure to improve sleep but seek advice on this."
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