Do humans need to hibernate, too? What the research shows – CTV

Jan. 22, 2024

Does the colder season have you dragging during the day, feeling like the amount of sleep you usually get in other parts of the year doesn’t seem to be enough now?

“If you feel like sleeping more in the winter, you’re not alone,” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, citing research that found at least a third of American adults reported they sleep more in the winter.

“Sleep needs for most adults are somewhere between (seven to nine) hours per night, and that is consistent no matter how cold or dark it gets outside,” said Dasgupta, who is also associate program director of internal medicine residency at Huntington. “However, it is common to feel like you are sleeping more during the winter due to the fact that we lose an hour of daylight when we enter standard time, which is associated with the early onset of darkness.”

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/do-humans-need-to-hibernate-too-what-the-research-shows-1.6736687