15 scary facts about sleep
Why do we sleep? For most people, this is perhaps a rather basic or even boring question, as the answer is obvious. But in fact, scientists have not figured out the reasons why we sleep.
The question “why do we sleep” would be better suited to a list of the 25 greatest mysteries in history.
But in the last few decades, with the help of modern technologies, scientists have been able to measure brain waves and learn a little more about the processes that take place in the human brain during sleep.
It is precisely because of the advancement of science that we were able to select 25 scary facts about sleep.
1. The average duration of use of mattresses of 6-8 years, and in Bulgaria sometimes several decades, is a long enough period of time during which tragic events usually happen to them, and even a recent study links them to sudden infant death syndrome.
2. From the results of another scientific study, it was found that people who sleep an average of 6-7 hours every night live longer than those who spend 8 hours a day sleeping.
3. And whales and dolphins literally sleep with one hemisphere of their brain and stay awake with the other. The two hemispheres of their brain alternate so that they are able to rise to the surface of the water to breathe.
4. The world record for the longest duration of wakefulness /that is, time spent without sleep/ was set by 17-year-old Randy Gardner in 1964, when he stayed awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes, that is, over 11 days.
5. An adult bed bug can survive without sleep for over 1 year.
6. In 2004, more than 35 million sleeping pills were prescribed in the United States, which is double the number compared to the previous 2 years. And only in the USA, where official statistics are kept, more than 6.2 million people are registered who are proven to be dependent on sleeping pills, sedatives and antidepressants. According to data from the 2009 report of the International Narcotics Control Bureau at the United Nations, the people who most often abuse are older, divorced or of the fairer sex.
7. After joining the European Union in 1986, Spain began a campaign to end the world-famous siesta, or afternoon nap, to demonstrate its serious intention to integrate into the community.
8. Although people born blind cannot see images, they have been found to have heightened auditory, tactile and olfactory abilities.
9. Scientists have not yet been able to discover why man needs sleep so much.
10. Usually a person wakes up about 6 times during sleep, but most often he is not aware of it.
11. Somniphobia is a condition characterized by an unreasonable fear of falling asleep.
12. 12% of people dream in black and white, but before the advent of color television, 75% dreamed in black and white.
13. One can only dream of people one has already seen.
14. Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is a surgical procedure applied to stop snoring, and among its possible unwanted consequences are a change in the tone of the voice.
15. If it takes a person less than 5 minutes to fall asleep, they are most likely not getting enough sleep. The ideal amount of time to fall asleep is around 10 minutes.
