Legal Research

Many world leaders, including Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton, have bragged about how little sleep they need.  But can you really be successful on 5 hours of sleep a night? This NPR story (text, though you can listen too) tries to sort out myth and reality. 

Short sleepers, people who can do with five hours of sleep a night, do exist. But most sleep researchers say they only comprise 10 percent or less of the population.

....

[University of Chicago professor of medicine and sleep researcher Dr. Eve] Van Cauter believes we are in a period now very similar to where we were with smoking 20 years ago. She envisions a time 20 years from now, when knowledge, research and even litigation (perhaps lawsuits against sleep-deprived drivers who cause accidents) will combine to change public perception so that lack of sleep is finally seen as dangerous, not something to be proud of.

Click through for the full story and a lengthy Q and A about how to solve various sleep problems.