The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life: the new sleep science(ˈsīəns)

The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life: the new sleep science(ˈsīəns)

Leading(led,lēd) neuroscientist(ˌn(y)o͝orōˈsīəntist) Matthew Walker on why sleep deprivation(ˌdeprəˈvāSHən) is increasing our risk(risk) of cancer(ˈkansər), heart attack(əˈtak) and Alzheimer’s(ˈältsˌhīmərz,ˈälz-,ˈôlts-,ˈôlz-) – and what you can do about it

By Rachel Cooke

Matthew Walker has learned to dread(dred) the question “What do you do?” At parties, it signals(ˈsignəl) the end of his evening(ˈēvniNG); thereafter(T͟He(ə)rˈaftər), his new acquaintance(əˈkwāntns) will inevitably(inˈevitəblē) cling(kliNG) to him like ivy(ˈīvē). On an aeroplane, it usually means that while everyone else watches movies or reads a thriller(ˈTHrilər), he will find himself running an hours-long salon(saˈlôN,səˈlän) for the benefit of passengers(ˈpasinjər) and crew(kro͞o) alike. “I’ve begun to lie(lī),” he says. “Seriously(ˈsi(ə)rēəslē). I just tell people I’m a dolphin(ˈdälfin,ˈdôl-) trainer(ˈtrānər). It’s better for everyone.”

Walker is a sleep scientist. To be specific(spəˈsifik), he is the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California(-nēə,ˌkaləˈfôrnyə), Berkeley(ˈbərklē), a research institute(ˈinstiˌt(y)o͞ot) whose goal – possibly(ˈpäsəblē) unachievable(ˌənəˈCHēvəbəl) – is to understand everything about sleep’s impact on us, from birth to death, in sickness(ˈsiknis) and health. No wonder, then, that people long for his counsel(ˈkounsəl). As the line between work and leisure(ˈleZHər,ˈlēZHər) grows ever more blurred(blərd), rare(re(ə)r) is the person who doesn’t worry about their sleep. But even as we contemplate(ˈkäntəmˌplāt) the shadows(ˈSHadō) beneath(biˈnēTH) our eyes, most of us don’t know the half of it – and perhaps this is the real reason he has stopped telling strangers how he makes his living(ˈliviNG). When Walker talks about sleep he can’t, in all conscience(ˈkänCHəns), limit himself to whispering(ˈ(h)wispər) comforting(ˈkəmfərtiNG) nothings about camomile(ˈkaməmʌɪl) tea and warm baths(baTH). It’s his conviction(kənˈvikSHən) that we are in the midst(midst,mitst) of a “catastrophic(ˌkatəˈsträfik) sleep-loss epidemic(ˌepiˈdemik)”, the consequences(-ˌkwens,ˈkänsikwəns) of which are far graver(ˈgrāvər) than any of us could imagine. This situation, he believes, is only likely to change if government gets involved(inˈvälvd).