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DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1777785
The Impact of Sleep: From Ancient Rituals to Modern Challenges
Abstract
Although sleep is crucial for mental and physical health, insufficient sleep is a growing problem in our modern society. In general, adults need approximately eight hours of sleep per night, but this is often unfeasible nowadays. This sleep restriction has been observed, and it has worsened, throughout the past two centuries; therefore, it is more attributed to socioeconomic changes than to biological adaptations. The most important factors to contribute to this sleep restriction were the popularization of artificial light and industrialization. The present manuscript briefly overviews, from a socioanthropological perspective, the reasons why sleep has been impacted, disclosing its effects on individuals and on society.
Publication History
Received: 27 January 2023
Accepted: 14 August 2023
Article published online:
20 February 2024
© 2024. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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