The Sleep Advantage

I can remember those Saturday mornings as a teenager when my mother used to pound on my door at the ungodly hour of 2 p.m. and tell me that I was "sleeping my life away." Listening to the stats in The Sleep Advantage, I see that she was actually one-third right. The person who lives to the age of 75 can expect to spend about 25 of those years in Stage I, II, III or REM sleep. A waste? Not so; during Stage III or "slow wave sleep" (a.k.a. sound asleep), the body physically repairs itself at the cellular level, while during REM sleep (when your eyeballs start acting like windshield wipers) your dream about burying a hatchet in your supervisor's forehead offers a healthy alternative to actually going Macbeth on the poor, misguided tyrant. How important is sleep? Well, it's estimated that driving after being awake for 24 hours straight is the equivalent to having 4-5 drinks. Viewers will learn that sleep requirements vary (Ben Franklin reportedly got by on four hours a night, whereas Einstein preferred nine), things to avoid before going to sleep (stimulants, alcohol, meals, etc.) and good sleep habits (keep the bedroom cool, engage in regular exercise, etc.). While some of the informational tidbits offered here are quite interesting, the presentation overall is not particularly jazzy and the guidelines seem pretty commonsensical, excepting the final admonition to "trust in God" which seems rather out of place in a general medical instructional video. Still, there aren't many other titles devoted to getting a good night's sleep and many people out there might find these recommendations helpful. Recommended, with reservations. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)