Bleary America needs some shut-eye
Stop yawning, America, and get some sleep. It’s more important than you think. Studies have linked a lack of sleep to everything from higher rates of motor vehicle crashes and heart attack to the nation’s obesity and diabetes epidemics. Insufficient sleep has been linked to memory and learning troubles, behavior problems in schoolchildren, and medical mistakes by doctors and nurses. With the annual loss of an hour’s sleep coming with this weekend’s shift to daylight savings time, The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health invited a panel of experts on Tuesday to discuss the latest findings from sleep science. Numerous studies show that getting a good night’s rest not only feels good, it is a key part of living a healthy life. “A good night’s sleep is as important as exercise and diet,” said panelist Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Sleep provides an...