- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; Reprint edition (21 Jan 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333776216
- ISBN-13: 978-0333776216
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 14.2 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 373,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
This study of sleep ranges from the science of the sleeping brain to the coded world of dreams. It emphasizes the importance of sleep: loss of sleep diminishes motivation, saps the ability to experience pleasure and endangers the body. There is advice on getting enough sleep.
From the Publisher
THE SCIENCE OF HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP.
Modern culture has become a study in sleep deprivation and yet healthy sleep has been proven to be the single most important determinant in longevity - more influential than diet, exercise or heredity.
Modern culture has become a study in sleep deprivation and yet healthy sleep has been proven to be the single most important determinant in longevity - more influential than diet, exercise or heredity.
THE PROMISE OF SLEEP illuminates the little understood but vitally important 'forgotten third' of our lives - from the science of our sleeping brain to the coded world of dreams. Drawing on more than four decades of research in sleep science, William C. Dement explains what happens when we sleep, taking readers on a remarkably lively tour of the sleeping body and mind. Dement examines sleep's surprisingly powerful effect on our overall health, from our immune system to our psychological well-being, and alerts us to the many ways in which sleep loss and sleep deprivation can put us in harm's way, inhibiting our motivation and our vitality.
Most importantly, THE PROMISE OF SLEEP gives hands-on advice about how to get the sleep we badly need. Dement reveals the six principles of healthy sleep and addresses such popular topics as sleep disorders and their cures, the role of prescription and over-the-counter sleeping aids, recovery from jet lag and the power of naps.
THE PROMISE OF SLEEP is a wake-up call to us all to stop abusing our delicate biological clocks and to start taking sleep seriously as the foundation of good health.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book tells you how to get better sleep, not by banal and useless exercises but by proven scientific explanation. It outlines the history of research into sleep and recent findings in friendly plain English. Topics include the accumulation of "sleep debt", sleep patterns from newborns to the elderly, how to reset your body clock, the role of dreaming, and the very real ways in which lack of good sleep can affect health. The author also tells interesting anecdotes about his experiences researching sleep over many years, such as how eyebrows were raised when the first women took part in perfectly innocuous sleep experiments!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent book highlighting the importance of getting good quality sleep. It seems that few people realise the full extent to which poor sleeping habits affect all aspects of our daily life.
This book also identifies potentially dangerous sleeping conditions and diseases (which are much more prevalent than one would think) which at best affect our performance during the day and at worst can be killers.
This is very well written by an author who has decades of experience in investigating sleep disorders and is easy to read, even for someone with little medical knowledge. A must-read for anyone who struggles getting good quality sleep or who is frequently tired during the day.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When a friend of mine recommended that I read this book, I was slightly doubtful. I didn't really believe that a book about sleep could be all that interesting. When I did get around to reading The Promise of Sleep, however, I was really pleasantly surprised. Dr. William Dement wrote this book in a manner that neither condescends to the reader, nor confuses him or her with overly technical terms, as one might expect from the world-renowned expert on sleep. It is friendly and amusing with entertaining anecdotes form Dr. Dement's career. In this respect, the book has some autobiographical aspects to it, allowing the reader to take a look into this fascinating man's life and work. One gets the sense that this book is intended for everyone who can read it, not only for people who can't sleep at night. The sleep patterns of people of all ages are discussed: infants, children, adolescents, pregnant women, the middle-aged, and the elderly. Dr. Dement makes it clear that sleep affects every area of our lives, and he does this by providing us with fascinating, but little-known, information. For example, in spite of the fact that 9 out if 10 people are either sleep-deprived or have a sleep disorder, a large number of these cases remain undiagnosed, because most doctors are untrained in this area. And sleepy drivers have a part in about a third of traffic accidents, but few people are aware of this. It makes the reader indignant to find out about this, and the author's anger shows through as well. After all, people are dying from sleep disorders, car accidents, and industrial disasters because the public is ignorant about sleep. The Promise of Sleep serves as a self-help book as well. I did not realize that I was sleep-deprived, or that sleep debt accumulates, until I read this book. The book includes a three-week plan to improve one's sleep. I actually tried it, and now sleep is a priority for me. As a result, my days are much more productive. This book was excellent. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone, on the basis that it will change, and even save, lives. It would serve as a good gift, as well.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
You need to sleep more, or risk your health or life!
The book is quite readable and covers in great detail the science of sleep. What comes out clearest, even after only 1 chapter is that this is a subject that affects us all, and... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2001
Good presentation for general public
Dr. Dement has written a very readable book about the importance of sleep. I enjoyed the inclusion of case studies rather than potentially mind-numbing text about the theory. Read more
Published on 23 Aug 1999
A must-read!!!
I was absolutely intrigued by this book. The first of its kind, The Promise of Sleep is much more than meets the eye. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 1999
A book that everyone should read.
I thought that this book was wonderful. It was informative and and intriguing, but what really impressed me was the liveliness of the book. Read more
Published on 22 July 1999
Pedantic, packed with trivial anecdotal time wasting stories
I am a Geriactric Nurse Practitioner, Teach graduate courses, read extensively and hated this book. If the author could refrain from "Then I set up the worlds first... Read more
Published on 16 July 1999
One of the worst I have read
If you read this self agradnizing, self promoting, tedious, endless, uninformative piece of trash, you are dumber than I am!! Read more
Published on 16 July 1999
Sleepless
I read the book twice. In fact I lost alot of sleep just so I could read. I'm in the Marine Corp and if there was ever a group of sleep deprived people we are it. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 1999
The book is truly excellent!
It is passionately written, packed with information, and easily understood by an ordinary mortal.
Published on 7 May 1999
The Promise of Sleep is an unbelievably great book!
I have wanted to learn something about sleep, and particularly about insomnia, for quite awhile. When I came across The Promise of Sleep in my local bookstore, I was a little put... Read more
Published on 19 April 1999
Essential information; flawed presentation
"The Promise of Sleep" is the most complete, up-to-date look at sleep and sleep research; even better than "No More Sleepless Nights" by Hauri. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 1999
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