How much sleep does a person need each night?
Q: My wife and I go to bed at about the same time every night. I never get a full seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, and most often awaken in less than five hours. I try to get back to sleep, but it seems to take hours to accomplish this. I know I often see the sun beginning to peek through our curtains at around 5:30 a.m., but I also know I do eventually fall back asleep, however briefly, because when I eventually awaken again, I realize I’ve been dreaming. My left hip arthritis doesn’t help. Are these two-plus hours worth anything? Or am I just as well off getting up and reading during that time? A: The amount of sleep people require varies greatly. In large part, it depends on age, health and physical and mental activity. Many people tend to awaken sooner than they would like to because of issues, recent events or medications they might be taking. For example, there’s the overdue report, the uniform or slacks that must be picked up at the cleaners, coordination with a neighbor for
