11 Facts About Sleep

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1. Teenagers need between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep per night.^[National Sleep Foundation. “Teens and Sleep.” 2014. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
2. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep occurs during the early morning hours of 3:00 AM to 7:00 AM.^[Gordon, Amie. “Your Sleep Cycle Revealed.” Psychology Today, July 26, 2013. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
3. One complete sleep cycle is 90 minutes.^[Kantra, David S. “A Perfect Night’s Sleep.” Psych Digest, March 2010. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
4. 10% of the people who snore while sleeping experience “sleep apnea,” a disorder that can make the snorer stop breathing up to 300 times a night.^[The National Sleep Research Project. “40 Facts About Sleep You Probably Didn’t Know…” Australian Broadcasting Company, 2000. Web Accessed November 4, 2014.]
5. Beauty sleep is actually a thing! During sleep, your skin is able to repair any damage (UV rays, dirt, etc.) and regenerates new skin cells.^[Skin Care News. “A Good Night’s Sleep For Great Skin.” 2014. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
6. Sleeping less than 7 hours a night makes it 3 times more likely to catch a cold.^[Wolter, Patti. “The big snooze.” SELF, January 17, 2010. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
7. A 10 to 20-minute nap is all you need to refresh your mind if you’re feeling groggy or tired.^[Davis, Allison. “PSA: Here’s How to Take the Perfect Nap.” NY Mag, September 3, 2013. Web Accessed November 5, 2014.]
8. The sleep disorder “insomnia,” in which a person has difficulty falling and staying asleep at night, is more prevalent in women than with men. Insomnia also increases with age.^[National Institutes of Health. “Information about Sleep.” 2003. Web Accessed November 6, 2014.]
9. The act of sleep talking is known as “somniloquy” and takes place during overlapping states of consciousness. The brief outbursts last only 1 or 2 seconds.^[Wolchover, Natalie. “Why Do People Talk In Their Sleep?” Live Science, March 26, 2012. Web Accessed November 6, 2014.]
10. More than any other light, blue light suppresses the secretion of “melatonin,” a hormone that controls our body’s internal clock.^[Harvard Health Letter. “Blue light has a dark side.” May 2012. Web Accessed November 6, 2014.]
11. Getting less sleep means having a bigger appetite because the leptin levels (an appetite-regulating hormone) decrease.^[National Sleep Foundation. “25 Random Facts about Sleep.” 2014. Web Accessed November 6, 2014.]