Sleep is the most important physiological process, without which the human body will not be able to restore strength and function normally. However, not everyone manages to devote the required 8 hours to it, a dynamic life flies ahead, and in order to be in time, it is often necessary to sacrifice a full rest. There are also people who decided on a bold experiment, managed to test their capabilities and set a world record for a person without sleep. We offer to get to know them, as well as learn about the consequences of prolonged insomnia.
Mean
Consider how much the average person can not sleep without significant harm to health. The number of days is from 7 to 11, however, it is necessary to lead a low-activity lifestyle. Studies have been conducted that have studied the effect of insomnia on humans:
- 24 hours. This condition is familiar to many, because often preparation for exams takes place on the last night, and projects are completed the day before the presentation. A person without problems survives 24 hours of insomnia, he is characterized by only a somewhat inhibited reaction and small changes characteristic of mild intoxication. If necessary, in critical situations, the ability to focus and hold attention is retained.
- 36 hours. A person experiences discomfort, weakness, he does not want to do anything. Headaches may occur.
- 48 hours. The lack of sleep is compensated by special conditions called “microspring”: a person goes to sleep imperceptibly for 30 seconds, after which he wakes up, and disorientation is observed. This condition is dangerous when driving and working with serious mechanisms.
- 72 hours Thinking and memory are significantly impaired, a person feels very tired, hallucinations and delusions can be observed.
- 4-5 days. Brain cells begin to break down, hallucinations are becoming stronger.
- 6-8 days. Memory is deteriorating, trembling appears in the limbs, a person experiences difficulty with the simplest actions.
If you do not sleep for a longer period, the outcome can even be fatal.
Animal experiments
Before considering the world record without sleep in humans, we will get acquainted with experiments on rats that were carried out by American researchers in the 90s of the last century. They did not allow rodents to sleep, using discharges of electric current. As a result, even the most persistent subjects died 11 days later. True, there is no need to speak about the reliability of the experiment, since the current itself, constantly passing through their bodies, could become the cause of the death of rats.
Medical cases
There are many shocking world records without sleep, which were caused by diseases. Consider the most famous case, the story of Michael Cork, an ordinary American music teacher who, at the age of 40, realized that his brain could not turn off and go into sleep. The reason for such a strange phenomenon is a rare hereditary disease. One of the teacher’s genes ceased to encode the necessary protein, which disrupted the functioning of the thalamus, the part of the brain responsible for sleep and wake cycles.
As a result, Michael Cork lost the ability to sleep with all the ensuing consequences: hallucinations, memory loss, delirium, physical exhaustion, which ultimately resulted in dementia. Doctors tried to help the man by introducing him into an artificial coma, but all efforts were in vain, and after 6 months of insomnia he died.
The best
Having decided not to sleep for a world record, Randy Gardner managed to prove that prolonged sleep deprivation would not have a total effect on the human body. The young man was only 18 years old when he decided to get into the book of records and not sleep for more than 10 days.
The documented record is 264.3 hours. At the same time, the young man did not use any stimulants, coffee, energy drinks, and researchers at Stanford University observed the purity of the experiment and the absence of violations. Lieutenant Colonel John Ross, whose task was to monitor the health of Randy, noted that the young man periodically experienced problems with memory, hallucinations, forgot what he was doing, was distracted and depressed. So, on the 4th day of the experiment, he mixed up a road sign with a man.
However, after his 11-day sleepless state, the young man was able to take part in a press conference and reasonably, without hesitation, answer the questions posed. It is interesting that after this incident, representatives of the book of records reported that in the future, achievements related to refusing sleep will not be recorded as life-threatening.
Previous result
We continue to consider world records without sleep. Randy Gardner, the absolute record holder, beat another shocking result - 260 hours without sleep. It belongs to Tom Rounds, a resident of Honolulu, to whom an experiment on himself “gave” hallucinations of nightmarish content, memory loss and a paranoid state. In addition, the number of “winners” should include the disk jockey Peter Tripp, who not only did not sleep for more than 200 hours, but also worked at that time.
As a result, terrible pictures began to appear to Trippe, instead of people he saw monsters, but the state passed after a good rest.
