Does a Person Need Rem Sleep?

Scientists agree that sleep is essential to health, and while stages 1 to 4 and REM sleep are all important, deep sleep is the most essential of all for feeling rested and staying healthy. The average healthy adult gets roughly 1 to 2 hours of deep sleep per 8 hours of nightly sleep.

Is it OK to not have REM sleep?

Consequences of Lack of REM Sleep

Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to greater risk of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, dementia, depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer. There has also been research to show that insufficient REM sleep may cause migraines.

What happens if you have less REM sleep?

Research suggests that when people are unable to enter REM sleep, they have difficulty remembering what they were taught before falling asleep. One study on rats has shown that just 4 days of REM sleep deprivation affects cell proliferation in the part of the brain that contributes to long-term memory.