If time rules life, can using body clocks intelligently make for a better life? Most larks and owls – morning and evening type people – think so – as do sparrows, the larger group in-between. For different brains have different inner times – each of us possesses clock patterns deep in our genes that determine when […]
Going Sleepless to War
Sleepless in Seattle War is hell, said General William Tecumseh Sherman, whose 1864 march to the sea changed the course of American and military history. And the practice of war, even in “peacetime” can be hell on the human body. That is the lesson of a panel at this year’s national sleep meetings in Seattle, […]
Dying for Sleep (3/24/14)
Sleeplessness Can sleep loss kill brain cells? Yes. Like the kind when I pull an all-nighter for school or work? Yes – if you are a mouse. So why should I care? Because if similar events befall people, you may really want to protect your sleep time – or at least how long you stay […]
Recognizing Regeneration (4/22/13)
Recognizing Renewal “My feeling is that sleep is fundamentally important to regenerating all cells.” So says Akhilesh Reddy, a body clock researcher at Cambridge University. He was referring to a new study out of the University of Surrey from a group involving Professors Dirk Jan Dijk and Colin Smith. Yet the same issues appear for […]
Less Sleep, More Weight? (3/29/13)
A Weighty Conundrum Americans are obsessed by weight. We weigh too much, we’re told. Obesity will kill many, many of us. The truth about weight is far more complicated. Part of that truth – a person’s weight is controlled by hundreds of different factors. And those are ones we know about: The color of a […]