1.  The gene, hypocretin receptor 2, codes for a protein that allows brain cells to receive instructions from other cells. https://www.sleepdreampillow.com/ of the gene encode proteins that cannot recognize these messages, perhaps cutting the cells off from messages that promote wakefulness.
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3.  I can’t think of another type of self-injury that might be similarly lauded, except maybe binge drinking. Technically the shifts were 30 hours, the mandatory limit imposed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, but we stayed longer because people kept getting sick. Being a doctor is supposed to be about putting other people’s needs before your own. There are times when you are restless and can't put your minds off especially when your plate is full. 10 years ago I had a cholectomy then surgery for a j pouch. Since then I wake up to use the restroom every hour and a half, often more frequently.
4.  What can be said definitively about sleep and wakefulness? What I’ve found is a perpetual divide between what’s known to scientists and what most people do. worked hospital shifts that could last 36 hours, without sleep, often without breaks of more than a few minutes. Even writing this now, it sounds to me like I’m bragging or laying claim to some fortitude of character.
5.  Eventually, if we don’t allow our body to relax, the buzz turns to anxiety. The concept of sleeping in short bursts has spread since those races began, in the 1960s. Today, a small global community of people practices “polyphasic sleeping,” based on the idea that by partitioning your sleep into segments, you can get away with less of it. Since my residency, I’ve become sort of obsessive about sleep—how much we really need, how to optimize it, whether there are ways to game the system.
6.  The researchers know that the same gene exists in humans, and they are currently searching for defective versions in people with narcolepsy. They also account for an estimated $16 billion in medical costs each year, while the indirect costs due to lost productivity and other factors are probably much greater. Doctors have described more than 70 sleep disorders, most of which can be managed effectively once they are correctly diagnosed. Some of the most common sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy. can lead to a seemingly psychotic state of paranoia and hallucinations in otherwise healthy people, and disrupted sleep can trigger episodes of mania in people with manic depression. By depriving people of light and other external time cues, scientists have learned that most people’s biological clocks work on a 25-hour cycle rather than a 24-hour one.
7.  Lots of times go right back to sleep, lots of times I don't. In 1999, a research team working with canine models identified a gene that causes narcolepsy – a breakthrough that brings a cure for this disabling condition within reach.
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