Eight-hour sleep really improves your looks

IF you want to look attractive and healthy, the best thing you can do is get a good nights sleep, say researchers, backing the beauty sleep concept. A new study by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found people who have a good nights sleep, eight hours of shut-eye daily, look more beautiful and healthy than those who dont, the 'British Medical Journal reported. For the study, the researchers recruited 23 healthy adults aged 18 to 31 - all young enough to get away with the odd bad night. The subjects were photographed after some eight hours of sleep and again after being kept awake for 31 hours after a few hours sleep. The pictures were shown to 65 untrained observers, who ranked them on a scale of how healthy, attractive or sleep-deprived the subjects looked. Those who went short of sleep were rated as less healthy and scored an average of 63 points, compared to 68 points after a full nights sleep. They were also seen as more tired and less attractive, leading the researchers to conclude that there really is such a thing as beauty sleep. The concept of beauty sleep has lacked scientific support, but the biological importance of sleep may have favoured a sensitivity to perceive sleep-related cues in others.Sleep disorders are increasingly common in todays 24-hour society and often co-exist with some common health problems, such as hypertension and inflammatory conditions, the researchers were quoted by the 'Daily Express as saying. TH Scarlett, Ryan end marriage \\

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