February 2002
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SLEEP AND DREAMS Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg |
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This book introduces sleep, biological rhythms,
and dreams to a slightly older audience than does Sleep,
by Alvin Silverstein and others, also reviewed this month. According to the book jacket, the author, Andrew
McPhee, has written or edited hundreds of health and life science
articles for children. Despite this experience, he includes some serious
factual errors: In describing Nathaniel Kleitman and Bruce Richardson's
month-long stay in Kentucky's Mammoth Cave in 1938, McPhee asserts
the two completely lost track of time and fell asleep an hour later
each day. The study actually aimed to see if people could live on
a 28-hour day. To keep this schedule, the researchers stayed awake
for 19 hours, then turned off the lights, and stayed in bed for 9
hours. Richardson, then 23, managed to adjust to the new schedule
within a week. Kleitman, 43, never did. In writing on jet lag, McPhee says travelers who
fly eastward tend to experience less severe jet lag than those who
go west. The opposite more often occurs. When traveling east, you
have to go to bed and get up earlier than usual. Eastward travel,
in essence, shortens the day. When traveling west, you typically stay
up later and sleep later. Westward travel thus lengthens the day.
Because the body clock typically runs slightly longer than 24 hours,
staying up later is easier than going to bed earlier. The section on narcolepsy contains an alarming
statistic. In Japan, McPhee asserts, "one in three people has
narcolepsy." A recent Internet search turned up estimates that
narcolepsy affects perhaps one in 600 to one in 1000 persons of Japanese
descent. In the general US population, about one in 2000 people is
thought to have this disorder. The black and white illustrations that accompany
the text are largely stock photos. But one drawing purporting to show
how sleep patterns change with age suggest that the average 10-year-old
sleeps 9 hours, and the average adult sleeps 10 hours (about 7 hours
is more typical for US adults). This book needs a thorough vetting and revision. It is an unreliable resource. |
Copyright (c) 2002
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