On Saturday 16 Jan 2010 11:04:09 am Kiran K Karthikeyan wrote: > The doctors on the list can > validate. Shiv?
In fact sleep studies and the effects of lack of sleep do not form part of the traditional medical curriculum. The need for adequate sleep used to be "traditional knowledge unmodified and unproven by research". This I believe has led to a lot of myths going unquestioned in Allopathic medical practice including considering an afternoon siesta as the hallmark of a lazy person. However no such myths have existed in Ayurveda. A lot of work has been done on the short term effects of lack of sleep now, but, as is typical of "science" in the way it is used to reach conclusions, the long terms effects of lack of sleep need a long time to research. I foresee that as years go by we will see more data on the long term effects of lack of sleep. One quibble I have about the sleepiness test is the claim that if you get a high score you need medical help. Yes and no actually. If you score high in the sleepiness test it means you need sleep. If you are unable to get that sleep because you are overworked the doctor may not necessarily be able to help you. When you find yourself nodding off at a meeting the correct action is to sleep. Nod off and let the others sod off. One of the social issues I have found is an embarrassment at admitting that one sleeps in the afternnon, or has a nap at some time in the day. Humans are the only species that try to get to sleep when they are wide awake and wake up when they are still sleepy. We simply cannot have got it right. There is absolutely no rule that says that humans must sleep 8 hours in one stretch and stay awake for 16, any more than there is a rule that a human must crap once in the morning and not crap again till tomorrow. Sleeping is like peeing. When you have to do it you have to do it. You mustn't stop halfway and you must do it again and again if necessary. shiv
