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	Most adults sleep 7 to 8 h per night, although the timing, duration, and internal structure of sleep vary among healthy individuals.
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Sleep has been always been a dark and mysterious part of our nature. Many questions have always lingered regarding its importance, its mechanisms and what regulates it. What is normal sleep? How much sleep do people need? What are the health effects of decreased sleep? On the other hand, sleep disorders have always plagued the health care system. Disturbed sleep is among the most frequent health complaints physicians encounter. More than one-half of adults in the United States experience at least intermittent sleep disturbances. For most, it is an occasional night of poor sleep and/or daytime sleepiness. However, at least 15 to 20% of adults report chronic sleep disturbance or misalignment of circadian timing, which can lead to serious impairment of daytime functioning.

So how much sleep do people need?

Most adults sleep 7 to 8 h per night, although the timing, duration, and internal structure of sleep vary among healthy individuals and as a function of age. The more important question is: Do you wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy or not? There are some people who only seem to feel refreshed after 6 hours of sleep, where others need 9 hours. If you find yourself suddenly sleeping more than you usually do then you are probably compensating for a decreased quality of sleep.

What is considered a normal, healthy sleep pattern?

In the United States, adults of intermediate age tend to have one consolidated sleep episode per day, although in some cultures sleep may be divided into a midafternoon nap and a shortened night sleep. Both patterns are considered normal. As mentioned earlier the age has a profound effect on sleep. At the extremes of age, infants and the elderly have frequent interruptions of sleep.

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What health problems are associated with decreased sleep?

Insomnia has been associated with many problems, some of which are directly related to the individuals health in addition to significant social complications.

At its extreme, sleep deprivation can lead to death. Infact a potential consequence of sleep deprivation is the famous death through overwork, known as "Karoshi" in Japan.

Problems with memory and concentration are among the most common complications and should not be dismissed as being unimportant. A common manifestation of this are the word-finding difficulties (when one can't find the words one is thinking of). Another manifestation is people also get irritable with lack of sleep.

Among the most pressing social complications is marriage related problems. There are higher divorce rates in people with sleep problems. On the other hand it has been estimated that the cost to society of sleep disorders that includes lost productivity, absenteeism at work, people getting into accidents, the cost of medications for sleeping pills or for stimulants amount to billions of dollars a year.

A new study sheds light on the importance of sleep on mental performance

German scientists at the University of Luebeck in say they have demonstrated for the the first hard evidence that our sleeping brains restructure memories before they are stored. According to the study creativity and problem solving appear to be directly linked to adequate sleep.

In the study, which was published in a recent issue of the journal Nature, scientists found that volunteers taking a simple math test were three times more likely than sleep-deprived participants to figure out a hidden rule for converting the numbers into the right answer if they had eight hours of sleep.

The study involved 106 people divided into five separate groups. One group slept, another stayed awake all night, and a third stayed awake all day for eight-hour periods before testing following training in the main experiment. Two other groups were used in a supplemental experiment. The group that got eight hours of sleep before tackling the problem was nearly three times more likely to figure out the rule than the group that stayed awake at night.

The results also may shed light on the memory problems associated with aging because older people typically have trouble getting enough sleep, especially the kind of deep sleep needed to process memories.

Sleep deprivation can contribute to increased accidents, worsening health and lower test scores. Experts are hoping this study would influence work attitudes in schools, employers and government agencies.

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