8 Hours of Sleep: Sure, But How Good Is It?

Sleep. Most of us love it and can't get enough of it. Some of us see it as getting in the way of doing other "more important" things. Modern society has almost conditioned us into considering it a necessary evil. Popular Jon Bon Jovi and The Cure songs even proclaim that sleep will come "when I'm dead."

Happily there is now a case for the importance of sleep. Thanks to the tireless (excuse the pun) research of sleep scientists, we now have a much better understanding of the factors that prevent us from falling asleep (blue light, stress, shift work), the dangers associated with chronic sleep deprivation (increased risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, cancer, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, poor decision-making) and how much sleep we need.

More...