Some people 'simply need less sleep than others'
Published: 19 August 2009
Bed linen may not be the top priority for a small contingent of the population, with research finding that many people may not find themselves bedding down for the night as early as others because they don't need to.
Between seven and eight hours of sleep are needed a night according to scientists, though many do not need anything near that amount, a new study has found.According to Ying-Hui Fu, professor of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco, people such as Margaret Thatcher - who was famous for her four hours a night - may have been perfectly fine doing that.
Dr Fu explained that a tripswitch in the body knows just how much sleep is needed in different people, meaning it can vary wildly from person to person.
"Yet, we really don't know anything about how this is done," he continued.
"This discovery provides an opportunity for us to begin to probe into the pathway regulating our sleep quantity and need."
A survey by the University of St Thomas in Minnesota last week discovered that students in the US are getting nowhere near the sleep they need due to high levels of stress for a great number of them.
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