MD Roger W. Washington

As someone who typically gets between 1.5 and 4 hours of sleep a night this book definitely sounded like something I should read. I expected a book recommending I get 8 hours sleep a night. Well, I got that and so much more. This book has some pretty convincing theories about the Washington Lack of Sufficient Sleep Principle or LOSS™. The more case studies he presents the more eye-opening the book becomes.

So what exactly is the Washington Lack of Sufficient Sleep Principle or LOSS™? Essentially it states that our potential for Illness is proportional to Activity and inversely proportional to Sleep, and illness usually occurs when activity slows down. Did you see that part? The illness usually doesn't occur until after you slow down and stop borrowing energy. This Energy Borrowing occurs when we stay up late to accomplish more work, a goal or even some fun "me" time. Even doing this one time can have an effect on our bodies and our health. Many people consistently Energy Borrow. Consider this: What goes up must come down.

During this time of Energy Borrowing a person is what he calls A.C.C.E.L.E.R.A.T.E.D. A person is pushing themselves to do more and more. Eventually that person will experience the next cycle which is C.R.A.S.H.E.D. when they slow down. This is when illness begins to set in and then they enter the last cycle which is B.U.R.N.E.D. Roger W. Washington, M.D. gives us many examples of this whole process that keeps presenting itself to him in his practice.

Time and time again he sees people fall sick with a variety of illnesses from migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, depression, infections, rheumatological disease and cancers. His theory is that the may be prevented if we just stop Energy Borrowing and get a minimum of eight hours sleep a night. Read the part in the book about Dr. Dement's two studies and how "These studies compel me to conclude that the human brain is designed for eight hours (and eleven minutes) of sleep." When we increase activity we need even more than eight hours sleep to prevent illness.

We have been blaming germs, heredity and stress for many illnesses when it may be as simple as the fact that we have been borrowing energy to meet our life’s challenges and not replenishing it. We already knew that you could get worn down without proper rest but for it to cause such widespread illness is a revolutionary new discovery.

One example in the book is former President Clinton's heart disease even though he had access to the best doctor's. He had annual medical exams and five treadmill tests to check his heart's exercise tolerance. They showed no sign of disease. He was placed on Zocor to lower his cholesterol but his doctors were all surprised when he presented with heart disease and had to have surgery. The thing is that is was a well known fact that former President Bill Clinton only needed 4 hours of sleep a night. He was a quite likely a chronic Energy Borrower! Then it is believed he was slowing down. He decreased his appearances in support of the autobiography and the Kerry campaign. There are numerous examples of situations like this in Dr. Washington's book, Lack of Sufficient SLEEP MATTERS: Decode the Root Cause of Your Illness.

There is also the example in the book of something known as "Blue Death". This is when police officers and firefighters retire and very often die soon after they retire. Dr. Washington attributes this to Energy Borrowing and lack of sleep.

Okay so I get it. I have been Energy Borrowing for years and likely when I slow down it will then hit me. What do I do? Now I am afraid to stop the cycle. Well it stands to reason that if lack of quality sleep is the root cause of illness that the solution is to get more sleep on a consistent basis.

So what is my opinion of this book? Well IMHO, it makes a lot of sense. The more you read the more you are convinced. I am not positive about just about every illness being attributed to this theory but Dr. Washington makes some strong points. He has been in practice for 30 years and has noticed this pattern in his patients. IMHO, it is definitely worth considering and taking the time to read about. What have you got to lose and imagine if the answer to your problems is as simple as prioritizing sleep in your life and balancing activity with rest? I will likely hang on to this book and reread it a time or two. I find books related to health matters interesting when they are logical. Since I have a multitude of health problems I am going to put this theory to the test. It really does make sense because I am not allowing my body to repair itself.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book to read in order to give my completely honest opinion. I am please to do just that.… (meer)