NationStates Jolt Archive


Scientific Proof -- Death Can Be Prevented

Myrmidonisia
24-03-2006, 15:05
From an article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060323/sc_space/sleepdeprivationthegreatamericanmyth)in "Live Science",

People who get only 6 to 7 hours a night have a lower death rate than those who get 8 hours of sleep. —From a six-year study of more than a million adults

I figure the 8 hour an night folks have a 100 percent mortality rate, how much lower can it go?

Talk about lousy writing, it takes most of the article before they even mention that "... people with serious insomnia or who only get 3.5 hours of sleep per night, live longer than people who get more than 7.5 hours." Which is probably what they meant in the first place.
Argesia
24-03-2006, 15:08
But it's a crappy existence.

Anyway, tell it to the guy who was posting that he couldn't cure his nightmares.
Wallonochia
24-03-2006, 15:11
Sleep is a crutch. Or so my drill sergeants told me.
Peacekeeper Command
24-03-2006, 15:14
So all those mornings I've struggled to get out of bed because I couldn't sleep until 5am the night before is actually good for me? Somehow, I have a hard time believing that...
Wingarde
24-03-2006, 15:14
They live longer awake, that's all. :p
The Jovian Moons
24-03-2006, 15:18
good. I hate sleep.
DubyaGoat
24-03-2006, 15:20
They are so miserable all the time it just 'feels' like they are living longer. ;)
Letila
24-03-2006, 15:45
Hmm, cool, so my relative lack of sleep won't be bad for my health as I feared.
Zylonom
24-03-2006, 16:08
They live longer awake, that's all. :p
Very clever, I shall view my insommia like that from now on! thanks.
Kzord
24-03-2006, 16:15
I'm pretty sure I've heard the opposite - that sleep makes you live longer. And even if it doesn't, it's better for your brain.
Myrmidonisia
24-03-2006, 16:16
Very clever, I shall view my insommia like that from now on! thanks.
I've never had trouble either sleeping when I want to, or staying awake when I need to, so the idea of insomnia is a strange one. What do you do when you can't sleep? Can't you just carry on as if it was normal to only sleep 3 or 4 hours? Or does staying quiet actually give you enough rest so that you aren't in a daze during the following day?
An archy
24-03-2006, 16:18
From an article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060323/sc_space/sleepdeprivationthegreatamericanmyth)in "Live Science",

I figure the 8 hour an night folks have a 100 percent mortality rate, how much lower can it go?

Talk about lousy writing, it takes most of the article before they even mention that "... people with serious insomnia or who only get 3.5 hours of sleep per night, live longer than people who get more than 7.5 hours." Which is probably what they meant in the first place.
Note: Death rate (or for that matter many other rates, such as the murder rate, and the suicide rate) is measured per hundred people (sometimes some other number) per year. So death rate measures the percentage of people in a certain group that die within a given time period. If a certain group of people had a 100% death rate, that would mean all of them died last year. So the writing wasn't lousy, you just didn't understand the full meaning of the term death rate.
Litherai
24-03-2006, 16:26
What about people whose sleeping hours swing wildly and randomly between 3 and 12 hours of sleep? Because I want to know how I'll fare...
Peacekeeper Command
24-03-2006, 16:30
What do you do when you can't sleep?

In my experience, you get frustrated. A lot. The longer you're awake, the more you toss and turn, the more you think about trying to go to sleep, and the more you get frustrated for not being able to. And of course, if it happens one night, the next night you have no chance at all of sleeping, as you end up thinking about it the second you go to bed. And that makes you even more frustrated. After a few nights you just give up and watch movies for a few hours.
Kevlanakia
24-03-2006, 16:47
I can attest to this. I've been awake continously for the last three years, and I still haven't died.
Huuhaaland
25-03-2006, 01:13
If you can't sleep the don't. Go to sleep only when you feel like it. Not so long ago I read about sleeping half an hour every three and a half hours. That's about three hours in a 24 hour period. I would not say day because the guy who was testing this told he had a feeling that there is only one continuous day. It sounded interesting, but only if you can choose your working hours.
Zanato
25-03-2006, 01:17
I'd rather sleep 16 hours a day and die young. Surreal dreamscapes are infinitely more enjoyable than harsh reality. Come on, die young.
Ladamesansmerci
25-03-2006, 01:20
I can attest to this. I've been awake continously for the last three years, and I still haven't died.

Then i guess that's a very good thing. if you died, we wouldn't have someone testifying now, would we?
Zanato
25-03-2006, 01:25
I can attest to this. I've been awake continously for the last three years, and I still haven't died.

Congratulations.