people who "don't need sleep" ?

[AccuTron]

I'd heard some brain science and thought of a movie scene.  It's been awhile since I saw the science but I think I recall it well enough.  No idea of link.

 

It seems that one critical reason we sleep (and I wonder if it's the originating necessity) is to drain cellular/metabolic waste.  

 

The brain is the only body part without a lymph system.  No drainage, no sewer system. So the existing vascular system does double duty.  The blood uses the inside of the blood vessels, supplying goods and removing wastes, but not all of them.  When we sleep, the brain cells in general shrink, allowing gaps, and thus waste leakage, along the outside of the existing vascular net.  Not sure where it ends up, but I can imagine that once in the neck, lymph pathways are abundant and must pick it up.  This explains a lot about sleep and deprivation as experienced.

 

In the movie adaptation  Journey to the Center of the Earth , the bad guy, an evil count type, claims to not need sleep.  Is this possible?  Does this mean he can go 1-2 nights without?  Indefinitely? 

 

Do you know of any such people?  In light of the science, could such people be with brains that have gaps hither and yon along the vascular system, such that the waste drainage is always occurring, even a lower level of efficiency would do?   (I guess I could search this now that I think of it, but I've already written all this.)

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Edit:  a quick look mentions people who don't need as much sleep, down to six hours, but nothing solid on no sleep.  One exception, here mentioned The Mystery of Sleep and the lucky few who don’t need it – Mind Update, was a man who had an unnamed sickness and lost his need for sleep without penalty, going on 30 years.  

 

Did the illness inflame brain vessels, leaving gaps, leaving a drainage network, and thus not permitting waste levels to rise to a triggering point?  Does sleep and it's many ways of regulating need a trigger, dependent on waste levels?  I've only been looking lightly, but no real mention of other causes or considerations other than variation in sleep genes.  Which is to say, so far the questions in this post haven't been asked before??  Hard to believe. 

 

The link also mentions drug companies making drugs that mimic a natural brain item so that people supposedly sleep less yet feel fine.  The link wisely asks if there are long term side effects.  If it has something to do with cellular waste removal, I can easily imagine machines with somewhat clogged filters or somewhat out of adjustment, and they run fine...for awhile.  It may be weeks or years, but it's going to needlessly fail, with possible secondary damage.

 

(The link writer also beams with wonder about the extra creation we'd provide with an extra four hours of wakefulness.  I wonder if a big chunk would go to YouTubes of cats or Russian dash cams.)

[shirgall]

It seems that one critical reason we sleep (and I wonder if it's the originating necessity) is to drain cellular/metabolic waste.  

 

The brain is the only body part without a lymph system.  No drainage, no sewer system. So the existing vascular system does double duty.  The blood uses the inside of the blood vessels, supplying goods and removing wastes, but not all of them.  When we sleep, the brain cells in general shrink, allowing gaps, and thus waste leakage, along the outside of the existing vascular net.  Not sure where it ends up, but I can imagine that once in the neck, lymph pathways are abundant and must pick it up.  This explains a lot about sleep and deprivation as experienced.

 

Very interesting. This also accounts for how inflammation can retard mental recovery. It's not something I've heard about before.

[thebeardslastcall]

I haven't looked at it recently, but the world record is somewhere around 11 days or so. If you go too long without sleep you die. I've never heard of any exceptions and don't think any humans are capable of doing it indefinitely. Many tales of people who 'didn't sleep' were people who chronically 'napped' during the day and didn't really avoid sleep, but just broke it up into minimal 'power naps' to hide the truth. I personally find sleep to be highly important to a healthy lifestyle and widely underrated for not just general health, but mental health in particular. People who don't get enough sleep are less sane and stable and much more easily agitated because they can't handle more stress without their mind freaking out at the extra pressure and waste while they're already on the brink. Sleep deprived people tend to lash out at stresses because it's literally very threatening to them in their current state. If your tank is empty a few drops of something bad aren't anything to worry about if you can handle them with ease, but if you're sleep deprived and the tank is nearly full each extra drop is very threatening because once the tank overfills you're taking hard damage which leads to death.

 

I sometimes equate disturbing someone's sleep unnecessarily or preventing someone from sleep as equivalent to pulling someone off life support or preventing them from hooking up when necessary. It's an assault to keep someone from necessary health processes (like by blasting someone awake repeatedly with loud noise in an apartment).