Evening star., 1925-08-18
SLEEPLESS TEST
TO Be REPEATED
Too Much Slumber May Be
One Cause of Disease, First
Trial Reveals.

Does the world spend too much time
in bed; and, if it does, are some of the
diseases that afflict mankind directly
traceable to this overindulgence in
sleep?
These are some of the questions
science is pondering over today as a
result of some surprising symptoms
that have developed from the sleepless
test just concluded by students at
George Washington University, dur
ing which six young men and women
deprived themselves of sleep for so
consecutive hours and two for more
than 80 consecutive hours.
Sc unlsual have some of the mental
and physiological analyses of the tests
proved that it has been determined
now to repeat the tests on a far
greater scale and with much more Sc
we're control, in an effort to answer
the problems that have arisen as re-
suit of d.. u'red A. Moss test, which
was begun noie as a psychological
experiment Ihan as a general clinic
on the effects of sleep.
Another Test Necessary.
Science, however, is on the scent of
some possible new discoveries of the
utmost Importance to medicine and
humanity, and il has been agreed
definitely that the new test is es-
sential. just when ii will begin or
what form it will take has not been
determined. 1t is quite possible, one
scientist said today, that not only
human beings may be used in the next
test but animals as well.
One of the surprising results of the
recent test that has been definitely
determined is that the sugar content
of the blood, the substance that is the
real fuel of the body varies very
little through loss of sleep. Even
after two of the students had been
without sleep for so hours and on
strict fast for part of that time the
variation in the sugar content of the
blood was so triflng that it could not
be expressed in terms comprehensive
to the layman.
There are other things, too-things
SO far-reaching in their possibilities
that the scientists will not speak of
them until they are sure of their
ground. They might be false trails
and lead nowhere, but there are GER
tain indications that on the other
highly important fields of medical
science. These things, it was stated,
must be gone into again more deliber-
ately and thoroughly.
Blood Changes Shown.
DIR. Oscar B. Hunter, head of the
department of bacteriology and pathol-
ogy at George Washington, discovered
that the white corpuscles in the blood
of the sleepless subjects increased
sharply as their hours Of wakefulness
Increased. Heretofore the medical
specialist has accepted multiplication
of the white corpuscles to indicate the
presence of infection. Now, it seems,
it is at least also an indication OF
nervous strain or fatigue.
+ Whereas" he said, medical science
has been accepting such a condition
as a symptom of internal infection
we NAV now find that 1t is nothing
in the world but a sign that the
patient has lost a good deal of sleep
lust before the examination or simply
a sign the patient is run down and
nervous. The hemoglibin of the blood
incidentally decreased, and in some
cases acidity appeared. :.
Dr Joseph III. Rowe, biological
chemist at George Washington, made
the tests showing the negligent lack
of change in the sugar content OF the
blood. When he first announced the
discovery he was misquoted into de-
claring he might be on the trail of a
cure for diabetes through insomnia
Laughing at this, DIR. Rowe said today
no person can yet tell what might
result from the next test, but that
certainly he was not seeking to cure
diabetes by keeping patients from
sleeping.
Mental Effect Small.
On the mental side, DR.. Moss, head
of the psychology department at
George Washington, said the test re
vealed that loss of sleep certainly has
little effect on the mental efficiency OF
a person Nor is it noticeable that a
man is able to Withstand sleepless
ness better than a woman. He found
both the young men and the young
women had practically the same men
tai reactions to the test.
Some peculiar circumstances were
noted, however" he continued. Fol
instance, while Mr. Petrie, aged 2S
seemed to stand the strain better thar
Mr.. Munroe, aged II, the latter seem
ed to come back quicker after rest
ing-youth seemed to tell in recupera
tive power. Food was a factor. We
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