Experts claim sleep to be the best indicator of longevity

Director of Russia’' Somnological Center, minister of healthcare and social development of the Russian Federation Jacob Levin has stated during his press-conference on Friday that sleep can in fact serve as a “good indicator of person's longevity,” reports RIA “Novosti”.

According to Levin, the research study conducted back in the 70s revealed that those who tend to sleep longer hours possess lower level of intellect, then those who do not require as much sleep.

"However, those who enjoy sleeping in have conducted their own study, which in turn lead them to conclude the following: those who sleep lesser hours are more prone to dying sooner,” stated Levin.

At the same time, approximately 40 per cent of people are not satisfied with their sleeping habits due to a number of reasons: work, stress, the feeling of being in love. According to the scientist, a person needs a minimum of five hours of sleep a day in order to restore his physiological functions. At the same time, noted the head of the center, “sleep also depends on one’s personal traits, characteristic only to them. Various individuals require different amount of hours.”

Overall, according to Levin, a person goes through four-six cycles of sleep in the course of a night. “During the slow sleeping phase, when the body accumulates energy, all bodily organs report to the brain; the REM (rapid eye movement) phase in turn causes the so-called vegetative storm in the organism, which is determined by intensive breathing and heartbeat. For elderly people, this may lead to cardiac arrest,” stated Levin.

According to the data provided by the Somnological center, which focuses on sleep study, 71% of patients with sleeping disorders think that stress in their daily lives directly affects their sleep.

“At times however, insomnia appears to be a mere mask that conceals various serious illnesses such as neuroses, hypochondrias and others,” noted the scientist.

Some recipes of good sleep involve waking up at the same time daily, food consumption no later than 3 hours before bedtime, some physical activity and warm shower before  going to bed, noted Levin.