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個小時，只是經常做不到。8小時是廣為贊同的最理想的睡眠時間，但有些專家表示睡8小時或許太久，并且有可能對身體有害。

　　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身體不好。你會疲勞不堪，急躁易怒，并且醫生表示這也可能導致肥胖，高血壓，糖尿病和心臟疾病。但是睡太多好嗎？你并不經常聽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，過去10年中進行的實驗似乎證明睡眠經常少于6小時或多于8小時的成年人有可能比睡眠時間在6-8小時之間的人死亡得早。

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

　　換種更科學的說法就是，睡眠不在6-8小時內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。

　　英國華威大學的教授佛朗哥·卡普里奧分析了16個研究，在這些研究中有百多萬人報告了自己的睡眠習慣，團隊也一直在追蹤調查。

　　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12%的人比中等睡眠時間的人早死。

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

　　但是，與中等睡眠時間的人相比，睡眠較長的人死亡率竟高出30%。

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

　　但是睡9個小時真的比睡5個小時更具傷害性嗎？

　　There are different ways of looking at this。

　　其實可以從不同的角度來看此問題。

　　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。

　　卡普里奧明白調查中睡眠太久的人或許心情過于壓抑又或者服用了安眠藥。雖然他糾正了這一點，但是他發現睡眠太久與死亡率之間仍存有關聯。

　　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。

　　他的觀點是那些睡眠超過8個小時的人會存在一些健康隱患，只不過當下并未顯現出其他癥狀。

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

　　所以，并不是睡眠過久導致了死亡率上升，那些隱疾才是罪魁禍首。

　　But can we say that eight hours are better thansix?

　　但是睡8小時一定比6小時好嗎？

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

　　根據麻省大學醫學院睡眠障礙中心的格雷格·雅各布斯博士所說，睡眠最合宜的時間應該是7小時。

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

　　比如，他指出，美國國家睡眠基金會的年度投票是在美國成年人當中隨機抽取的樣本。

　　"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，現在大部分成年人都睡7個小時。而這應該也是全世界成年人的中等睡眠量。這說明7小時睡眠或許對大腦來說比較自然。”

　　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，在床上時間雖多但仍感覺良好，那應該并無大礙。現在并沒有確鑿的證據證明睡眠過多或躺在床上放松自己就是自殺。

　　本文摘自博客，點擊查看原文。