欠缺的睡眠能那麼容易的彌補嗎

Ceaseless technology. A punishing workweek. That to-do list that keeps multiplying. It is no wonder at least 50 million Americans self-report an insufficient amount of sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But will sleeping more on the weekend make up for hours of lost snoozing? One sleep expert, W. Christopher Winter, medical director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Va., weighs in.

沒完沒了的技術，讓人筋疲力盡的一週，不斷增加的待辦事項……難怪根據美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的數據，至少有5,000萬美國人自我報告說睡眠不足。但是週末多睡一陣就能彌補失去的睡眠時間嗎？睡眠專家、弗吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾市(Charlottesville, Va.)瑪莎•傑斐遜醫院睡眠醫學中心(the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center)的醫學主任W•克里斯托弗•溫特(W. Christopher Winter)參與了辯論。

Sleep Binge

狂睡

Getting eight hours of shut-eye each night is generally recommended, but many people don't. As the week rolls from Monday to Friday, they accumulate a sleep debt. Spending a few extra hours in bed on a Saturday morning, people assume, will help them 'catch up' on lost sleep. They're likely right. 'Nobody knows how long the horizon is, probably a few nights, but studies show that recovery sleep in the short term does work,' says Dr. Winters, a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 'But the all-nighters I pulled in my residency 15 years ago? That's gone.'

通常建議的是人每晚要有八個小時的睡眠，但是很多人都做不到。隨着日曆從週一翻到週五，他們欠缺的睡眠越累越多。人們認爲，星期六在牀上多睡幾個小時會幫助他們“彌補”失去的睡眠。他們很可能是對的。“沒人知道時間範圍是多長，也許幾個晚上，不過研究表明，短期的恢復性睡眠的確有用，”身爲美國睡眠醫學學會(the American Academy of Sleep Medicine)會員的溫特博士說，“但是我15年前當住院醫生時通宵達旦熬的那些夜呢？全都是過眼煙雲了。”

Sleep Banking

睡眠銀行

Recent data suggests that banking sleep in advance of a long night can actually offset upcoming sleep deprivation. 'If you knew you were going to give birth on a particular day, for example, you could sleep for 10 hours a day for multiple days before the event, and be fine,' he says. Just plan ahead.

最近的數據顯示，事先預存長長一夜的睡眠真的可以抵消即將到來的睡眠不足。溫特說，“比如，如果你知道自己在具體某一天臨產，你可以在事前很多天裏每天都睡上10個小時，保持狀態良好”。你只需要提前做好計劃。

'Social Jet Lag'

“社會時差”

Experts refer to the effects of changing sleep habits from weekdays to weekends as 'social jet lag.' When you've revved up until midnight for five nights and then recover sleep until noon on Saturday, the body is confused. 'It's like you've traveled six time zones, and you feel terrible,' says Dr. Winters. While many sleep extenders complain of grogginess and dull headaches, subjectively they are better at performing tasks: 'I would much rather be in the passenger seat with [a driver] who's made up the sleep than someone who's simply sleep deprived.' That just-woken-up daze? It passes in a few minutes, but the benefits of extra sleep last for hours, he says.

專家把在工作日和週末之間改變睡眠習慣的效應稱爲“社會時差”。當你五個晚上都連軸轉到半夜，之後又在週六補覺到中午的時候，你的身體被搞懵了。“這就像你跨越了六個時區旅行，你會感覺很難受，”溫特說。雖然很多補覺的人抱怨自己昏昏沉沉、頭隱隱作痛，但是主觀上他們覺得自己可以更好地完成工作。“相比純粹睡眠不足的司機，我寧可坐補了覺的司機開的車。”那隻不過是剛醒來時的迷迷糊糊吧？溫特說，它幾分鐘就過去了，但是追加的睡眠所帶來的好處可以持續好幾個小時。

Routine Naps

習慣性小睡

A scheduled nap is healthier than catching up on or banking sleep. 'Because sleep extension can make you feel groggy, I always recommend a short nap, at the same time, every day,' if a person feels they need it, says Dr. Winters. He adds that 25 minutes is ideal. He tracks his alphawaves and sleep quality with a Zeo device, and sets his Sound Oasis machine to wake him after 25 minutes. 'When you schedule a short nap, your body anticipates it and slows down, without falling into a deep dream sleep,' he says. That refreshing, scheduled break is better than an occasional, disruptive weekend lie-in. 'The body likes routine,' he says. 'When it's prepared, it works more efficiently.'

定時的小睡比補覺和預存睡眠更健康。溫特說：“由於補充睡眠會讓你感覺頭昏腦脹，我始終建議在每天的同一時間小睡一會兒，”如果有人覺得自己有此需要的話。他還說，25分鐘是理想的時間。他用一臺Zeo設備跟蹤自己的阿爾法波和睡眠質量，把他的聲音綠洲(Sound Oasis)助眠儀設定爲25分鐘後叫醒自己。“當你安排了定時小睡的時候，你的身體就會有所期待並且慢下來，不會進入深度的有夢睡眠，”他說。這種讓人頭腦清醒的定時休息比偶爾一次打亂節奏的週末懶覺要好。“身體喜歡規律性，”溫特說，“當身體有所準備的時候，它工作起來更有效率。”

Sleep Types

睡眠類型

There is some evidence to suggest that young people are more likely than older people to bounce back from long nights through recovery sleep, as the ability to shrug off deprivation wanes with age, says Dr. Winter. The effects of recovery may also have a lot to do with chronotype, which is genetic, and refers to whether you're a day person (lark) or night person (owl). (Most people fall somewhere in between.) 'If you're a night owl, you may do better than a morning person with an unusual schedule, so sleep-extending can be a great tool,' he says. A sleep binge is a less effective option for true morning people, who may not be able to sleep much past dawn.

有一些證據表明，相比年齡較大的人，年輕人通過恢復性睡眠從漫長的熬夜中恢復元氣的可能性更大。溫特說，因爲人擺脫睡眠不足的能力隨着年齡的增長會逐漸降低。恢復的效果還可能與一個人遺傳而來的時間類型有關係，它指的是你是一個白天精力充沛的人呢還是一個夜貓子。（大部分人介於這兩種類型之間。）溫特說，“如果你是個夜貓子，你應對非常規時間表的能力可能比一個早上精力充沛的人更強，因此補充睡眠會是很好的恢復精力的工具”。選擇惡補睡眠對於一個早上精力充沛的人來說效果不那麼好，他們在天亮以後可能就不能入眠了。