Sleep can be a serious topic, especially, when you toss and turn all night and don’t wake up refreshed and raring to go in the morning. But sleep can be a happy topic too. Read on for some sleep fun facts. Perhaps you might discover something that you never knew.
Sleep Fun Facts
What is the record for the longest period of time without sleep? There is some debate! As it stands, the Guinness Book of World Records still has a high school student holding the record since 1964 at 11 days, 24 minutes. But there is some speculation that the longest period of time without sleep is closer to 3 weeks (18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes) and held by a woman who participated in a rocking chair marathon. Breaking the record is strongly discouraged as people can survive longer without food than they can without sleep.
Is it possible to dream all night long? For the most part, dreams occur during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, which typically starts about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. REM sleep takes place in brief spurts of time throughout the night. In the past, it was thought that dreams only occurred during REM sleep. But now studies have shown that dreams can take place during non-REM stage. So in theory, it is possible to dream all night long. Nevertheless, the total amount of dream time is about 2 hours a night. And if you added up all the time we spend dreaming throughout our lives, it would total about 6 years.
How well do we remember our dreams? Theory is that after 5 minutes have elapsed at the end of a dream, we already have forgotten 50 percent of what occurred. After 10 minutes, we only remember a mere 10 percent. So if you want to remember your dreams, keep a journal and a pen on your nightstand to jot it all down.
Do people only dream in color? Back in the day before color television, 75 percent of people had dreams in black and white. Now it is estimated that only 12 percent do. And we only dream of faces that we have already seen.
Do people who are visually impaired dream with images? Actually people who have been blind since birth do not dream in images. Instead when they sleep their dreams have heightened sound, smell and touch.
If you were able to go into space, would you still have sleep problems? When individuals blast off from Earth, they might escape gravity but their sleep disorders actually get worse. Since daylight and night are non-existent, the circadian rhythm or internal clocks of astronauts are off, which in disrupts their sleep.
If you have troubling getting a good night of sleep or suffer from sleep apnea, we are here to help. Please contact one of our medical concierges today at 1-855-863-4537 to schedule a free consultation.
