The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

Narcolepsy: An Autoimmune Disorder?

You might love your sleep—and your naps—but probably not enough to want narcolepsy, one of the more difficult sleep disorders to manage. What few people realize, though, is that narcolepsy isn’t just about falling asleep frequently during the day at inopportune times. About three-quarters of narcoleptics are at the mercy of emotional reactions that trigger their body to physically experience muscle paralysis. So imagine being happily excited or, conversely, suddenly frightened, and all of the sudden your body freezes against your will and you can’t move.  

And imagine this heartbreaking, agonizing disorder coming uncontrollably from within you. From your own immune system. 

Reboot Your Brain—and Get Smarter—with a Midday Nap

Pop quiz: What can make you smarter in as little as 20 minutes, costs nothing, and you must do with your eyes closed?

One of my favorite topics is the benefits of napping. I can’t get enough of studies that confirm that a so-called “biphasic sleep” sleep schedule—sleeping in two spurts during the 24-hour day, which typically means sleeping at night and then taking a siesta in the afternoon—is an ideal way to keep your brain sharp, prepared to learn new things, and feel refreshed. No wonder some of our most historic brains are noted fans of napping:

• Albert Einstein,
• Thomas Edison,
• Napoleon Bonaparte,
• Ronald Reagan,
• Bill Clinton,
• the list goes on...

Brahms napped at the piano while composing his famous lullaby. Winston Churchill scheduled his cabinet meetings around his naps, alleging that he required a daily afternoon nap in order to cope with his wartime responsibilities. Some of today’s top athletes and Olympians take long naps in the afternoons as part of their training regimen. Their naps are as important as their daily exercise.

And Leonardo Da Vinci took the concept of biphasic sleeping to extreme. He was known for “polyphasic” sleep, getting his winks in four-hour intervals. Is that what allowed him to be so innovative and ingenious?

Earlier this year, a new study out of the University of California, Berkeley, shows that an hour’s nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Some of the most interesting findings:

Another Reward for Living Longer

Take a guess.

You got it: better sleep may actually be one of the secret benefits of living longer and living healthier. A study in the May 1 issue of the journal Sleep indicates that sleep factors big time into one’s quality of life and longevity. This is an important study because it’s the first to look at sleep issues in a large sample of exceptionally old adults—including 3,927 who were between 90 and 99 years of age and 2,800 people who had reached the century mark!