As we know, the French have trouble sleeping: 73% of us wake up (at least) once during the night, 36% suffer from at least one sleep disorder (insomnia, sleep apnea… ), and 30% simply don’t get enough sleep at night.
Bad news: contrary to a still too widespread prejudice, it is not really possible to “catch up” several nights of insomnia during the week with a lie-in during the weekend, however long it may be…
This is the conclusion of a recent Polish study published in the specialist journal Plos One. The researchers worked with a group of volunteers: for 10 days, they were forced to sleep (on average) 5 hours and 15 minutes per night, against (on average) 7 hours and 35 minutes per night usually. Afterwards, the participants returned to normal sleep.
An adult should sleep between 7 and 9 hours per night
Result ? Seven days after the experiment, the researchers found that the sleep-deprived volunteers had not regained all of their brain function. They conclude that, if the brain is obviously able to recover from a period of insomnia, this “upgrade” can take time: a lie-in is therefore not enough!
In 2015, the National Sleep Foundation (in the United States) estimated the number of hours of sleep needed to stay healthy according to the age of the person concerned: for adults (from 18 to 64 years old), researchers recommended between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night, and not to drop below 6 hours per night. For teenagers, the recommendation revolved around 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night.
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