Many of us try, but often fail, to get eight hours’sleep each night. This is widely assumed to be the ideal amount -but some experts now say it’s too much, and may actually beunhealthy。

　　我們中很多人都想每晚睡夠8個(gè)小時(shí)，只是經(jīng)常做不到。8小時(shí)是廣為贊同的最理想的睡眠時(shí)間，但有些專家表示睡8小時(shí)或許太久，并且有可能對(duì)身體有害。

　　We all know that getting too little sleep is bad. Youfeel tired, you may be irritable, and it can contribute to obesity,high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, doctors say. Buttoo much sleep? You don’t often hear people complaining aboutit。

　　我們都知道睡得太少對(duì)身體不好。你會(huì)疲勞不堪，急躁易怒，并且醫(yī)生表示這也可能導(dǎo)致肥胖，高血壓，糖尿病和心臟疾病。但是睡太多好嗎？你并不經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到有人抱怨自己睡太多。

　　However, research carried out over the past 10 yearsappears to show that adults who usually sleep for less than sixhours or more than eight, are at risk of dying earlier than thosesleep for between six and eight hours。

　　但是，過(guò)去10年中進(jìn)行的實(shí)驗(yàn)似乎證明睡眠經(jīng)常少于6小時(shí)或多于8小時(shí)的成年人有可能比睡眠時(shí)間在6-8小時(shí)之間的人死亡得早。

　　To put it more scientifically, there is a gradualincrease in mortality risk for those who fall outside thesix-to-eight-hour band。

　　換種更科學(xué)的說(shuō)法就是，睡眠不在6-8小時(shí)內(nèi)的人群死亡率正不斷上升。

　　Prof Franco Cappuccio, professor at the University ofWarwick, has analysed 16 studies, in which overall more than amillion people were asked about their sleeping habits and thenfollowed up over time。

　　英國(guó)華威大學(xué)的教授佛朗哥·卡普里奧分析了16個(gè)研究，在這些研究中有百多萬(wàn)人報(bào)告了自己的睡眠習(xí)慣，團(tuán)隊(duì)也一直在追蹤調(diào)查。

　　His analysis showed that 12% more of the shortsleepers had died when they were followed up, compared to themedium sleepers。

　　他的分析表明，睡眠較少的人中有超過(guò)12%的人比中等睡眠時(shí)間的人早死。

　　However, 30% more of the long sleepers had died,compared to the medium sleepers。

　　但是，與中等睡眠時(shí)間的人相比，睡眠較長(zhǎng)的人死亡率竟高出30%。

　　But can it really be true that getting nine hours’sleep is worse for you than getting five?

　　但是睡9個(gè)小時(shí)真的比睡5個(gè)小時(shí)更具傷害性嗎？

　　There are different ways of looking at this。

　　其實(shí)可以從不同的角度來(lái)看此問(wèn)題。

　　Cappuccio was aware of the possibility that peoplesleeping too long might be depressed, or might be using sleepingpills. He corrected for this, though, and found the association wasstill there。

　　卡普里奧明白調(diào)查中睡眠太久的人或許心情過(guò)于壓抑又或者服用了安眠藥。雖然他糾正了這一點(diǎn)，但是他發(fā)現(xiàn)睡眠太久與死亡率之間仍存有關(guān)聯(lián)。

　　His own theory is that people who sleep for more thaneight hours sometimes have an underlying health problem that is notyet showing in other symptoms。

　　他的觀點(diǎn)是那些睡眠超過(guò)8個(gè)小時(shí)的人會(huì)存在一些健康隱患，只不過(guò)當(dāng)下并未顯現(xiàn)出其他癥狀。

　　So, it’s not the long sleep that is causing theincreased mortality risk, it’s the hidden illness。

　　所以，并不是睡眠過(guò)久導(dǎo)致了死亡率上升，那些隱疾才是罪魁禍?zhǔn)住?/p>

　　But can we say that eight hours are better thansix?

　　但是睡8小時(shí)一定比6小時(shí)好嗎？

　　The magic number, according to Dr Gregg Jacobs, ofthe Sleep Disorders Center at the University of MassachusettsMedical School may actually be seven。

　　根據(jù)麻省大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院睡眠障礙中心的格雷格·雅各布斯博士所說(shuō)，睡眠最合宜的時(shí)間應(yīng)該是7小時(shí)。

　　He points, for example, to the National SleepFoundation’s annual pollof a random sample of adults in the US

　　比如，他指出，美國(guó)國(guó)家睡眠基金會(huì)的年度投票是在美國(guó)成年人當(dāng)中隨機(jī)抽取的樣本。

　　"The typical adult today [in that poll] reports sevenhours of sleep. And that actually seems to be the median sleepduration in the adult population around the world. That suggeststhere’s something around seven hours of sleep that’s kind ofnatural for the brain."

　　“投票顯示，現(xiàn)在大部分成年人都睡7個(gè)小時(shí)。而這應(yīng)該也是全世界成年人的中等睡眠量。這說(shuō)明7小時(shí)睡眠或許對(duì)大腦來(lái)說(shuō)比較自然。”

　　But if you enjoy sleeping, spend a lot of time in bedand feel good, you’re probably just fine. There’s no hard evidencethat extra time asleep, or just lying down and relaxing, is goingto kill you。

　　但是如果你非常享受自己的睡眠，在床上時(shí)間雖多但仍感覺(jué)良好，那應(yīng)該并無(wú)大礙。現(xiàn)在并沒(méi)有確鑿的證據(jù)證明睡眠過(guò)多或躺在床上放松自己就是自殺。

　　本文摘自博客，點(diǎn)擊查看原文。