The Sleepless Elite

[Jazzy]

For a small group of people -- perhaps just 1% to 3% of the population -- sleep is a waste of time.



Natural short sleepers, as they're officially known, are night owls and early birds simultaneously. They typically turn in well after midnight, then get up just a few hours later and barrel through the day without needing to take naps or load up on caffeine.



They are also energetic, outgoing, optimistic and ambitious, according to the few researchers who have studied them. The pattern sometimes starts in childhood and often runs in families.



While it's unclear if all short sleepers are high achievers, they do have more time in the day to do things, and keep finding more interesting things to do than sleep, often doing several things at once.



Nobody knows how many natural short sleepers are out there. There aren't nearly as many as there are people who think they're short sleepers, says Daniel J. Buysse, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a professional group.



Out of every 100 people who believe they only need five or six hours of sleep a night, only about five people really do, Dr. Buysse says. The rest end up chronically sleep deprived, part of the one-third of U.S. adults who get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night, according to a report last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



A few studies have suggested that some short sleepers may have hypomania, a mild form of mania with racing thoughts and few inhibitions. These people talk fast. They never stop. They're always on the up side of life, says Dr. Buysse. He was one of the authors of a 2001 study that had 12 confirmed short sleepers and 12 control subjects keep diaries and complete numerous questionnaires about their work, sleep and living habits.One survey dubbed Attitude for Life that was actually a test for hypomania. The natural short sleepers scored twice as high as the controls.



Rest of article: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112502/why-people-can-run-on-little-sleep-wsj

 

[R.H]

I didn't think that people that are short sleepers were such a big deal never mind research about them as I am a short sleeper my self and I am up all night every night without fail and I don't deny this isn't a genetic thing more conditioned and grown into from childhood and has passed on into adulthood as I have grown up.

Now whether this is the same for every one else, I don't know but I think, I would like to find out as this is the first public recognition or mention of this.



And anyone can get sleep deprived the only difference between someone who only needs four or five hours and someone that thinks they do is are you sleep deprived afterwards, I am not I am very functional after just a few hours sleep and controlled subjects?

Does this mean they made a couple of non short sleepers stick to this regime of short sleeping hours and monitor them, I get its a good basis to compare to actual short sleepers, It just seems that people will research anything these day's.

And I like the title Jazzy 'The Sleepless Elite' very catchy