科普常识：关于睡眠的8个流言（双语）

　　近日，纽约大学医学院的博士后研究员瑞贝卡·罗宾斯(Rebecca Robbins)与其他研究人员浏览了超过8000个网站，以期了解人们对于睡眠的看法。之后，一组睡眠医学专家对这些看法一一进行了辟谣或证实。以下就是他们在其中发现的一些最常见的误解。

　　1. Adults need five hours or less of sleep

　　成年人只需要五个小时或更少的睡眠时间

　　Extensive evidence shows that consistently getting five hours of sleep or less greatly increases risk of adverse health consequence, like that of cardiovascular disease and early mortality. They say this myth poses the most serious risk to health from long-term sleep deficits.

　　大量证据表明，睡眠时间长期小于等于5小时会大大增加健康损伤的风险，比如心血管疾病和早死几率。他们还表示：由于这个流言会导致人们长期睡眠不足，因此所造成的健康风险最为严重。

　　2. Drinking alcohol before bed will help you sleep

　　睡前喝酒会帮助你入睡

　　Many people think a drink before bed will help them have a good night's sleep. Robbins says, nope – it's a myth. A drink before bed may help someone fall asleep, but it dramatically affects quality of sleep. It pulls a sleeper out of REM and deeper sleep. You may still spend time sleeping, but you won’t be fully restored.

　　很多人认为睡前喝一杯可以帮助自己睡个好觉。但罗宾斯对此表示：这是谣言。睡前喝一杯或许可以帮助某些人入睡，但却会显著影响其睡眠质量。这会导致你无法进入快速眼动睡眠与深度睡眠。你可能确实花了时间睡觉，但你不会彻底恢复精神。

　　REM: (睡眠)快速眼部运动的; rapid eye movement的缩写

　　3. Watching television in bed helps you relax before sleep

　　在床上看电视可以帮助你在睡前放松

　　A lot of people fall asleep in front of a TV in the bedroom, but watching television is not an optimal way to relax. Nightly news and other programming can lead to stress when we're trying to power down and can lead to insomnia, says Robbins. These devices also emit bright blue light, which tells our brain to perk up, not sleep. Avoid blue light from TV and phones and instead do things that relax you.

　　很多人都会在卧室里看着电视睡着，但看电视并不是放松的最佳方式。罗宾斯表示，在我们打算休息时，夜间新闻及其他节目可能会让我们感到压力，并且会导致失眠。此外，这些设备也会发出明亮的蓝光，告诉我们的大脑应该振作起来，而不是开始睡觉。我们应该避免电视和手机所发出的蓝光，而去做其他令自己放松的事情。

　　insomnia[ɪn'sɑmnɪə]: n. 失眠症，失眠

　　4. It’s best to stay in bed and try to sleep

　　睡不着的时候也要躺在床上

　　Many people think that if they’re having trouble falling asleep, it’s best to stay in bed and try. Unfortunately, if we stay in bed and keep trying unsuccessfully, we eventually associate our bed with insomnia. It should take about 15 minutes to fall asleep. If you’re waiting longer than that, get out of bed and change the environment. Instead, get up, do something mindless, like folding socks, and keep the lights low. Only return to bed when you feel tired.

　　许多人认为，睡不着的时候最好留在床上继续尝试。不幸的是，如果我们待在床上继续尝试后，还是会睡不着，最终便会将自己的床与失眠联系起来。你应该在15分钟内入睡，如果你入睡的时间太长，那就下床并改变一下环境。你可以去做一些不需要动脑的事情，比如叠袜子，并保持灯光昏暗，感到疲倦时再回到床上睡觉。