长期熬夜会变笨吗？
对于这个问题，答案很扎心：算！长期的慢性睡眠不足，比急性的通宵熬夜后果更严重。
研究发现，连续两周每晚睡眠时间少于6小时且认为自己睡得还不错的人，在认知和反射测试中的表现与连熬两晚没睡的人一样糟糕。简而言之，长时间熬夜容易变笨。
A lab-based sleep study found that people who were sleeping fewer than six hours a night for two weeks – and who thought they were doing just fine – functioned as badly on cognitive and reflex tests as people who were deprived of any sleep for two full nights.
这是因为大脑需要不间断的睡眠周期来消化新技能、形成关键记忆并修复身体一天的损耗。在睡眠期间，身体在通过细胞进行自我修复和恢复。
That’s because the brain needs uninterrupted sleep cycles to absorb fresh skills, form key memories, and repair the body from the day’s wear and tear. During sleep, your body is literally repairing and restoring itself on a cellular level.
因此，长期缺乏睡眠会影响注意力、学习能力、创造力、解决问题和做出决定的能力，即使只熬一晚也有影响。
A chronic lack of sleep therefore impacts your ability to pay attention, learn new things, be creative, solve problems and make decisions. Even skipping sleep for just one night disrupts functioning.
越来越多的证据表明，睡眠会影响记忆力、造成认知能力下降和患痴呆症的长期风险。
Mounting evidence shows that sleep influences the long-term risks of memory issues, cognitive decline and dementia.
有研究表明，长期睡眠不足后，平均需要一周左右的时间，学习与记忆水平才能恢复到熬夜前的状态。
A research suggests that recovery from sleep deprivation (many days of it, in particular) may not be so easy. The effects of sleep deprivation on the brain’s attention and cognitive processing abilities may linger as long as a week after we’ve returned to a regular sleep routine, warns a study.
好睡眠降低死亡风险
想活得更久更健康？你需要保障你的睡眠。
美国一项新的研究发现，遵循5个良好的睡眠习惯可以使男性的预期寿命延长近5年，女性的预期寿命延长近2.5年 。
Want to live longer? Then prioritize sleep in your life: Following five good sleep habits added nearly five years to a man’s life expectancy and almost 2.5 years to a woman’s life, a new study found.
这项有关睡眠与寿命关联性的研究于美国心脏学学会年度会议发表，研究人员于2013年至2018年间对17.2万人进行睡眠习惯问卷调查，询问受访者是否达到以下5个良好睡眠习惯：容易入睡；睡眠不中断；每天睡足7至8小时；睡醒时觉得获得充足休息；未服用任何助眠药物。人们根据这些指标进行评分。
Falling asleep easily, staying asleep, getting seven to eight hours of zzz’s, waking up rested and foregoing sleep meds — People were scored on how many of the five habits they had.
大约四年后，研究人员将这些分数与国家死亡指数记录进行了比较，以了解他们的睡眠行为是否导致了某些疾病或因任何原因导致的早逝。
然后，研究小组排除了导致更高死亡风险的其他潜在原因，例如饮酒、较低的社会经济地位和现有的医疗条件。
整理后发现，与没有或仅拥有1个良好睡眠习惯的人相比，拥有全部良好睡眠习惯的人整体而言死亡的可能性降低30%，死于心血管疾病的可能性降低21%，死于癌症的可能性降低19%，死于非心血管疾病和癌症等其他疾病的机率降低40%。
Compared to individuals who had zero to one favorable sleep factors, those who had all five were 30% less likely to die for any reason, 21% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, 19% less likely to die from cancer, and 40% less likely to die of causes other than heart disease or cancer.
研究同时发现，拥有5项良好睡眠习惯的男性，平均寿命比没有任何良好睡眠习惯或只有一项好习惯的人高出4.7年；女性相比而言，平均寿命高出2.4年。研究人员指出，良好睡眠习惯对男女性寿命的影响有明显差距，确切原因还需进一步研究。
良好的睡眠习惯
需要怎样做才能拥有香甜一梦？
首先，确保每晚有七到八个小时的充足睡眠，这对许多人来说很难。你要做的不是在床上躺更长时间，而是有一个不被打扰的、安宁的睡眠。这意味着不会在夜间醒来或难以入睡的情况每周小于两次。当醒来时，每周至少有五天感到休息良好。并且这些都不能通过使用安眠药实现。
Make sure you get a full seven to eight hours of sleep each night. That’s tough for many people. But you have to do more than just lay in bed longer — you also need have to have an uninterrupted, restful sleep more often than not. That means you don’t wake up during the night or have trouble falling asleep more than two times a week. You also have to feel well rested at least five days a week when you wake up. And finally, you can’t be using sleep medications to achieve your slumber.
如果你感到难以入睡，可以试试这些方法来改善睡眠。
首先，保持按时睡觉、按时起床很重要，即使是在周末和假期也是如此。
It’s important to go to bed at the same time on most nights and get up at the same time most mornings — even on weekends and holidays.
确保拥有舒适的睡眠环境，卧室凉快、阴暗点比较好，同时隔绝噪音。
Make sure your sleeping environment is optimal — cooler and darker is better — and block noise.
睡前避免饮酒。专家表示，酒精虽然看起来可以让你更好入睡，但事实上，你的肝一直工作到凌晨3点以代谢酒精，那时你就会醒来。
Avoid booze before bed — it may seem like you’re falling asleep more easily, but when your liver finishes metabolizing the alcohol at 3 am, your body will wake up, experts say.
此外，也可以制定睡前常规活动，至少在睡前一小时没有蓝光或其他事干扰。尝试冥想、瑜伽、太极拳、热水澡都可以，任何能让你放松的事情都很棒。
Set up a sleep routine, with no blue lights or distractions at least an hour before bedtime. Try meditation, yoga, tai chi, warm baths — anything that relaxes you is great.
试一试这些方法，今晚睡个好觉吧！
