[extropy-chat] Sleeplessness

[Harvey Newstrom]

Johnius wrote,
>
<http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2004/01/06/hw
ake06.xml>
>   The 44-hour day
> 
> A new prescription drug that can stave off sleep for
> hours - with no side-effects - could transform the way
> we live. The armed forces already use it; others, from
> new mothers to shift-workers, might benefit too. So
> what effect did it have on Julia Llewellyn Smith over
> the party season?

One warning quote from the article:  "I'm surprised to feel my legs shake
slightly - a symptom of exhaustion. I realize modafinil may stop you from
feeling sleepy but you still feel tired. My limbs grow heavier, but that
doesn't stop the wakefulness. If wake-up drugs catch on, 'tiredness' and
'sleepiness' will have to be separated: a hard concept to grasp."

This is similar to other reports I have reviewed.  This drug eliminates the
sleepiness and desire to sleep, but it does not eliminate the need for sleep
or the symptoms of sleep deprivation.  A person can go quite a long time
without sleep.  This drug seems to block the urge to sleep and helps people
force their bodies to continue functioning during sleep deprivation.
However, it is not clear that it actually reduces the need for sleep.
Remember that the author of this article goes home and sleeps every night,
and still complains of feeling tired, exhaustion and physical shakiness due
to lack of sleep.

I also wonder how long this can be kept up.  Other reports I have heard say
that people crash when they stop taking this drug.  Some have reported
sleeping for a few days straight.  Others merely say that they sleep 10-12
hours a night for some period afterwards.  I tend to do this when I am on a
busy contract.  I can do 6 hours per night all week, but then I sleep until
noon on Saturday and Sunday.  It almost seems that the body has to recover
later.

This sounds like an amazing drug for short-term use.  I am not sure I would
want to experiment with long-term until I saw some animal studies showing
that the animals lived long, normal, healthy lives.  This would be great for
one of our conventions!  It may be reasonable to spend a three-day weekend
without sleep, gaining all the extra hours, and then catching up during the
following week by sleeping slightly longer at night.

I do know that non-REM sleep is compressible, while REM sleep does not seem
to be.  When people miss sleep one night, they sleep more the next few
nights to make it up.  Researchers have found that their total sleep time is
not made up, but the total amount of REM sleep missed is made up in full.
They go into REM cycles sooner when they finally sleep, and have longer REM
cycles.  This may represent a more efficient sleep, or it may be a kind of
healing-mode for the body that is not healthy to require regularly.

>From my psychology days, I remember that there are radically different
symptoms for REM-sleep deprivation and non-REM-sleep deprivation:
- A lack of S-SLEEP (non-REM-sleep, synchronized sleep, orthodox sleep, slow
wave sleep) causes lethargy, physical tiredness, lessened protein
utilization, poor RNA production, lessened pain resistance, lessened growth
hormone release, slow healing, poor growth.  
- A lack of D-SLEEP (REM-sleep, desynchronized sleep, unorthodox sleep, fast
wave sleep) causes memory problems, speech problems, lessened mental
ability, lessened problem-solving ability, depression, paranoia, waking
delusions, psychological disorders, sleepwalking, increased dreaming,
decreased immune system functions.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, CISA, CISM, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
Certified IS Security Pro, Certified IS Auditor, Certified InfoSec Manager,
NSA Certified Assessor, IBM Certified Consultant, SANS Certified GIAC
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