×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Thursday
24
Jul 2025
weather symbol
Athens 29°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> World

How long can you go without sleep?

And what can happen to your body if you stay awake way past your bedtime?

Newsroom March 27 05:03

For an astonishing 11 days and 25 minutes, 17-year-old Randy Gardner didn’t sleep for a high school science fair project in California in 1963, setting the world record for the longest someone has stayed awake(opens in new tab). Other people have reportedly broken this record — Robert McDonald went 18 days and nearly 22 hours without sleeping in 1986 — but none were monitored as closely or by a doctor as Gardner was.

Guinness World Records doesn’t cover this feat anymore; in 1997 they stopped accepting new submissions due to “inherent dangers associated with sleep deprivation.”

But what are these dangers? What happens to people who experience prolonged sleep deprivation?

Sleep is necessary for executive, emotional and bodily functions, and insufficient sleep may raise the risk of several health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention(opens in new tab). Experts say humans require a consistent six to eight hours of sleep at the same interval every 24 hours. But it’s not uncommon for people, especially students, to pull an all-nighter and stay awake for 24 hours.

At this stage of sleep deprivation, it can be challenging to distinguish between sleep and wakefulness, said Dr. Oren Cohen(opens in new tab), a sleep medicine fellow at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. As someone starts to push 24 hours without sleep, their brain activity already shows signals that they are on the sleep-wake border, even though they appear to be awake, Cohen said.

>Related articles

How science is winning the war against cancer step by step

Toxic fungus linked to the “curse of the pharaohs” is turned into an anti-leukaemia drug

“Saint Savas” was certified by the Organization of European Oncology Institutes

more at livescience.com

also read

Hot Mary Vitinaros of GNTM enjoys Plaka in Athens (photos)

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#health#insomnia#sleep
> More World

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Raging wildfire in Cyprus – Two people burned alive trying to escape by car

July 24, 2025

Scattered fires in Feneos – Over 11,000 acres of forest burned

July 24, 2025

Mitsotakis takes a hardline stance on national issues — Slams ‘Twitter diplomacy’

July 24, 2025

Who are the golden girls of Water Polo – The stories of the 15 Women who took Greece to the Top of the World

July 23, 2025

Russian attack leaves 220,000 without power in Ukraine, says Zelensky

July 23, 2025

Mitsotakis’ interview on SKAI

July 23, 2025

Jonathan Brandis: Hollywood’s beloved child star who never found his way – A shining start and suicide at age 27

July 23, 2025

EU: Preparing countermeasures with 30% tariffs on U.S. goods worth €100 billion

July 23, 2025
All News

> Greece

Raging wildfire in Cyprus – Two people burned alive trying to escape by car

Limassol wildfire disaster: Dozens of homes burned, 12 villages evacuated – Spain sends aid – See photos

July 24, 2025

Scattered fires in Feneos – Over 11,000 acres of forest burned

July 24, 2025

Greece – Hungary 12–9: Greece crowned Women’s Water Polo World Champion! – See Video

July 23, 2025

Fire rekindles in Mavrovouni, Feneos – Evacuation alert via 112 for three settlements – 340 firefighters and 21 aircraft on scene

July 23, 2025

Earthquake of magnitude 5.2 strikes between Crete and Antikythera

July 23, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα