第1627期:Do we really need 8 hours’ sleep?

Charles Darwin once said “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life”. If you live one hundred years, that only equates to twelve-hundred months – and when you break it down even further into days, hours and minutes, it gets more frightening. Why is this relevant? Well, quite simply put: life is short. Spending eight hours every day in a slumber means you’re losing a third of your life to bed. So, the question is: is eight hours the exact amount we need, or is it just a myth?查尔斯·达尔文曾经说过“一个敢于浪费一小时时间的人，并没有发现生命的价值”。如果你活了一百岁，那只相当于一千二百个月——当你把它进一步分解成天、小时和分钟时，它会变得更加可怕。为什么这是相关的？嗯，很简单地说：生命是短暂的。每天睡八小时意味着你失去了三分之一的生命在睡觉。所以，问题是：八小时是我们需要的确切时间，还是只是一个神话？While most scientists agree that between seven and nine hours a night is the optimal amount, this is just a rough estimate. In truth, it’s a little more complicated than that. It seems that the amount of sleep you need depends upon your age – with infants needing much more than adults. What does seem apparent is that around seven and a half hours’ sleep is a good amount. In a study conducted at the University of Surrey Sleep Research Centre, the effects of sleep were monitored.虽然大多数科学家同意每晚 7 到 9 小时是最佳时间，但这只是粗略估计。事实上，它比这更复杂一些。您需要的睡眠量似乎取决于您的年龄——婴儿需要的睡眠量比成人多得多。显而易见的是，大约七个半小时的睡眠是一个很好的时间。在萨里大学睡眠研究中心进行的一项研究中，监测了睡眠的影响。One group slept for six and a half and the other for seven and a half hours per night. While some findings were predictable – irritation and lower concentration in the group who slept less, there were some more surprising findings. The genes of people who had less sleep were affected. Genes associated with inflammation, the immune system and stress response became more active. The team also observed increases in the activity of genes related to diabetes and risk of cancer.一组每晚睡六个半小时，另一组睡七个半小时。虽然一些发现是可以预测的——睡眠较少的那组人的刺激和注意力降低，但还有一些更令人惊讶的发现。睡眠较少的人的基因受到影响。与炎症、免疫系统和压力反应相关的基因变得更加活跃。研究小组还观察到与糖尿病和癌症风险相关的基因活性增加。One of the biggest issues is that myths regarding sleep are constantly perpetuated. For example, have you ever heard that you can train yourself to need less or no sleep? It’s simply not true. We will always need a certain amount of sleep – eight hours might not be the exact sweet spot, and there are factors like age to take into consideration, but one thing is true – there is a certain amount we do actually need.最大的问题之一是关于睡眠的神话一直存在。例如，您是否听说过您可以训练自己减少或不需要睡眠？这根本不是真的。我们总是需要一定的睡眠时间——八小时可能不是确切的最佳睡眠时间，而且还需要考虑年龄等因素，但有一件事是真实的——我们确实需要一定的睡眠时间。词汇表equate to 相当于break something down 将…细分为若干部分relevant 相关的slumber 睡眠，睡梦myth 没有根据的说法，虚传optimal 最佳的estimate 估计apparent 明显的monitor 监测finding 研究结果irritation 烦躁，恼火concentration 注意力，专注immune system 免疫系统response 反应perpetuate 使…持续下去sweet spot 最佳状态（此处指最佳睡眠时长）take into consideration 考虑到