Stanford sleep expert Rafael Pelayo featured on KGO

Stanford professor Rafael Pelayo, MD, was the guest on KGO’s Ronn Owens Show yesterday. During the hour-long interview, Pelayo discussed and took listeners’ questions on mobile applications that claim to help you rest easy, sleep disturbances related to aging, the dream cycle, the importance of sleep environment and the effectiveness of sleeping aids, including various medications.

On the topic of irregular sleep schedules, such as pulling an all-nighter or shift work, Pelayo explained that it could take some time to regain the sleep loss:

If you go one night with zero sleep it takes four to five days to make up that difference. For example, if you normally sleep eight hours a night then you’re not going to sleep 16 hours the next day. You might sleep 10 hours over a series of days to make up the time that you’ve lost.

Previously: Stanford expert: Quality, not quantity, of sleep is what counts
Photo by CraigGrocott