What more do you think is going on in genetic short sleepers? I can’t for the life of me figure it out. My sleep is excellent— both rem and deep and overall sleep duration and consolidation. But if anything I feel like I’ve inherited a long sleep mutation and I NEED a ton of sleep. And it’s becoming harder with age to keep full wakefulness and alertness throughout the day (though I suspect a big part of that is my environment being under stimulating to what I’ve been used to). But if I could take a drug that kept me super alert during the day without jitters and even lowered my need for sleep so I can wake up at 5:30 am and not suffer — neither psychologically nor physiologically — that would be amazing.
1 Like
I don’t know what more is going on but I suspect it is more than just more orexin production. Perhaps a more optimal metabolization, or slower aging of different neurons. Scientists really need to figure this one out and create an intervention to make everyone a “short sleeper”.
I believe that optimization of sleep is one of the best ways we can improve longevity.
I wrote about my theory here Sleep 2.0 – Understanding and Upregulating the Rejuvenating Aspects of Good Sleep
1 Like
A new podcast interview with the CEO of Alkermes, with lots of discussion on the news Orexin targeted drugs in clinical testing:
1 Like