Insomnia; and Other Disorders of Sleep — John Shaqi
Insomnia; and Other Disorders of SleepLyman, Henry M. (Henry Munson)
Science
Insomnia; and Other Disorders of Sleep
Lyman, Henry M. (Henry Munson)
Dreams; Insomnia; Sleepwalking
_Temperature._--Aside from the almost hourly fluctuations of the bodily
temperature, a noticeable sinking of the temperature-curve is observed
during the hours of sleep. This alone is sufficient to indicate a
diminished rate of combustion in the tissues. Boussingault found[9] that a
dove which consumed 255 millegrammes of carbon every hour while awake,
oxidized only 162 millegrammes when asleep. Scharling also observed that
the quantities of carbon successively oxidized by the same man when asleep
and awake bore to each other the ratio of 1:1.237. The observations of
Demme[10] indicate that increase of bodily temperature during the hours of
sleep must be considered as the result of pathological processes in the
tissues. The observations of Allix (_loc. cit._), made upon sixteen
children during the first twelve days after birth, showed an average fall
of 0°.38 C. during the hours of sleep. Eight children, between five and
sixteen months old, exhibited a similar depression of 0°.56 C.; while ten
children, ranging in age from twenty months to four years of age, averaged
0°.34 C. less when asleep than when awake.
The well-known experiments of Chossat, who found that the temperature of
pigeons was from 0°.70 C. to 0°.90 C. higher at noon than at midnight, may
not be considered satisfactory evidence of the depressing influence of
sleep, because it is true that the diurnal variations of temperature which
are conditioned by the vital activities of every animal might be
sufficient to account for these differences. The experiments of
Horvath[11] are more convincing. This observer found that the marmots upon
which he experimented were accustomed to sleep during the winter for about
four days continuously, and would then remain awake for an equal length of
time. “During the sleeping period they can be cooled down to such a degree
that a thermometer introduced into the rectum to the depth of an inch and
a half indicated only 3°F. above the freezing point. The temperature rose
rapidly after the animal awoke, so that in the course of an hour it was
3°F. higher; at the close of the second hour 9°F. higher, and at the end
of the next half hour about 27°F. * * Neither respiration nor the muscular
movements were correspondingly augmented.” This observation clearly shows
the powerful influence of cerebral activity upon the liberation of heat
within the body.
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