Cheating Ourselves of Sleep
缺覺?后果可能很嚴(yán)重
Think you do just fine on five or six hours of shut-eye? Chances are, you are among the many millions who unwittingly shortchange themselves on sleep.
你是否以為自己每天只睡五六小時也沒什么大礙?要知道，有數(shù)百萬人都在不知不覺中克扣了自己的睡眠，很可能你也是其中之一。
Research shows that most people require seven or eight hours of sleep to function optimally. Failing to get enough sleep night after night can compromise your health and may even shorten your life. From infancy to old age, the effects of inadequate sleep can profoundly affect memory, learning, creativity, productivity and emotional stability, as well as your physical health.
研究表明，大多數(shù)人都需要七八個小時的睡眠才能讓身體機能保持最佳狀態(tài)。夜復(fù)一夜睡眠不足可能損害你的健康，甚至縮短你的壽命。從呱呱墜地直至垂垂老矣，睡眠不足均可對你的記憶力、學(xué)習(xí)能力、創(chuàng)造力、生產(chǎn)力、情緒穩(wěn)定性以及身體健康造成深遠(yuǎn)影響。
According to sleep specialists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, among others, a number of bodily systems are negatively affected by inadequate sleep: the heart, lungs and kidneys; appetite, metabolism and weight control; immune function and disease resistance; sensitivity to pain; reaction time; mood; and brain function.
據(jù)美國匹茲堡大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院(University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)和西方精神醫(yī)學(xué)研究所與診所(Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic)的睡眠專家們稱，睡眠不足會對某些身體系統(tǒng)造成負(fù)面影響，尤其是：心臟、肺和腎臟;食欲、新陳代謝和體重控制;免疫功能和疾病抵抗力;疼痛敏感性;反應(yīng)時間;情緒;以及腦功能。
The body’s ability to process glucose is also adversely affected, which may ultimately result in Type 2 diabetes. In one study, healthy young men prevented from sleeping more than four hours a night for six nights in a row ended up with insulin and blood sugar levels like those of people deemed prediabetic. The risks of cardiovascular diseases and stroke are higher in people who sleep less than six hours a night. Even a single night of inadequate sleep can cause daylong elevations in blood pressure in people with hypertension. Inadequate sleep is also associated with calcification of coronary arteries and raised levels of inflammatory factors linked to heart disease. (In terms of cardiovascular disease, sleeping too much may also be risky. Higher rates of heart disease have been found among women who sleep more than nine hours nightly.)
人體處理葡萄糖的能力也會受到不利影響，這最終可能導(dǎo)致II型糖尿病的發(fā)生。在一項研究中，健康的年輕男性連續(xù)六夜每夜睡眠都不超過四個小時，其后他們的胰島素和血糖濃度均達(dá)到與糖尿病前期患者相近的水平。在每夜睡眠時間少于六小時的人群中，心血管疾病和中風(fēng)風(fēng)險均較高。對于高血壓患者，即使僅有一夜睡眠不足也可導(dǎo)致其在隨后的一整天里血壓居高不下。睡眠不足還與冠狀動脈鈣化以及心臟疾病相關(guān)炎癥因子水平升高有關(guān)。(就心血管疾病而言，睡眠過多也可能存在風(fēng)險。現(xiàn)已發(fā)現(xiàn)，每晚睡眠超過九小時的女性患心臟病的幾率相對較高。)
With insufficient sleep, thinking slows, it is harder to focus and pay attention, and people are more likely to make poor decisions and take undue risks. As you might guess, these effects can be disastrous when operating a motor vehicle or dangerous machine.
睡眠不足時思維緩慢，人們難以集中注意力，就更容易做出錯誤的決定，承擔(dān)不必要的風(fēng)險。可以想見，在開車或操作危險的機器時，這些影響可能帶來災(zāi)難性的后果。
In driving tests, sleep-deprived people perform as if drunk, and no amount of caffeine or cold air can negate the ill effects.
在駕駛執(zhí)照考試中，缺乏睡眠者的表現(xiàn)就如同醉酒一樣，再多的咖啡因和冷空氣都無法消除這種不良影響。
At your next health checkup, tell your doctor how long and how well you sleep. Be honest: Sleep duration and quality can be as important to your health as your blood pressure and cholesterol level.
在你下一次體檢時，請告訴醫(yī)生你的睡眠時間和質(zhì)量。說句老實話：對于健康來說，睡眠時間和質(zhì)量與血壓和膽固醇水平同樣重要。
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