SLEEP IS YOUR SUPERPOWER

Sleep scientist Matt Walker (above) pulls no punches about the importance of sleep – and the dire consequences of sleep deprivation, from failing exams to heart attacks.

Autumn daylight saving – turning back the hour on your clock –can have catastrophic effects if we don’t make up our lost sleep.

Says Walker: “When we lose one hour of sleep, we see a 24 per cent increase of heart attacks the following day; when we gain one hour of sleep, we see a 21 per cent reduction of heart attacks”.

Sleep is Mother Nature’s best effort yet at immortality”, says Liverpool born Walker.

How you sleep affects your memory and learning. In one study, people who had enjoyed a full night’s sleep had a 40 per cent advantage on those who had no sleep.

How you sleep affects memory and learning.

“This is the difference between a child acing their exam and failing”, he warns.

The impact of poor sleep starts to show in later years. “As we get older our learning and memory abilities begin to fade and decline… your sleep gets worse, especially your deep quality of sleep… it suggests the disruption of deep sleep is an underlying factor relating to cognitive decline.”

There is some good news. “Unlike many of the other facts associated with ageing, we may be able to do something about sleep”, says Walker, who is currently looking at the power of sleep in retaining memory and learning in people with dementia.

Protect Your Killer Cells

We produce ‘natural killer cells’, a type of white blood cell, that identify and destroy cancerous cells, explains Walker. Studies show a 70 per cent reduction in natural killer cell activity when participants were limited to only four hours of sleep for one night.

• 12 percent of people dream in black and white

• You forget half your dreams within five minutes of waking up

• We spend a third of our life sleeping

• The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days

• See more sleep facts at: 22 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About Sleep – The Sleep Matters Club (dreams.co.uk)

WIDE AWAKE IN BED?

Matt Walker’s best advice is to stay up till you’re tired. “You’d never sit at the dinner table waiting to get hungry, so why would you lie in bed waiting to get sleepy?”

For More Information

@sleepdiplomat

@drmattwalker

The Matt Walker Podcast (sleepdiplomat.com)

HOW MUCH SLEEP DO WE NEED?

On average, healthy adults need six to eight hours of sleep a night. Young children need around 12 hours and teenagers need around 10 hours.

It’s not just length, but quality, that gives us a good night’s sleep. Read more about sleep here www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/ mental-health-issues/sleep