Extensive studies in Scandinavia show higher death rates for people who regularly sleep less than six hours or more than nine hours per night, writes Martin Cohn, chief of the sleep-disorders center at Miami`s Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Turning his attention to other research, Cohn notes in a recent article for Upjohn`s science information service that rats deprived of rapid- eye-movement (REM) sleep, which also is part of the human sleep cycle, became ill and died within a month.
These studies have the ring of supermarket tabloid headlines and are worst-case scenarios. But there are other, less serious troubles for those with sleeping problems. Everyone is awakened slightly 30 to 50 times a night, Cohn explains, but some are interrupted hundreds of times. These rousings are so minimal that they aren`t remembered the next day. However, extreme restlessness, or ”fragmented sleep,” may leave a person who has spent eight hours in bed as unrested as someone who stayed up all night, Cohn maintains.
Sleep apnea, a condition in which the brain fails to send correct breathing signals to the respiratory system, causes victims to stop breathing periodically, sometimes for several minutes. They awake gasping for breath as many as 300 times a night. Sleep apnea creates virtual zombies, Cohn says.
In a study, Cohn and colleagues at Mt. Sinai monitored daytime lives of sleep apnea sufferers and found that many couldn`t remember performing even mundane functions. ”They fill out forms but don`t recall doing so,” he writes, ”or drive somewhere and wonder how they got there. We all engage in daydreaming and some automatic behavior, but these people are almost sleepwalking.”
Sleep disturbances increase with age for a variety of physical reasons, but anxiety and stress can keep the young restless.
BOOM TOWNS
Since 1980 the counties adding the most people have been concentrated in Texas, California and Florida. Leading the list is Los Angeles County, with a population gain of 819,000, followed by Arizona`s Maricopa County, up by 391,000. Harris County, Tex., grew by 389,000. San Diego County picked up 340,000 people, and Dallas County, 277,000. Back in California, San Bernardino County jumped 244,000, and Orange County, 234,000, while Tarrant County, Tex., climbed 241,000. Eight California counties gained more than 100,000. Texas and Florida had five apiece. Is it just a coincidence that in all these places you can spend December in a short-sleeved shirt?
`BEEM` ME UP
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In 1985, the typical owner of a BMW 325e automobile was 34.8 years old, had an income of $72,000 and lived in a household with 1.99 people.