Night Time And Sleep In Asia And The West

Drawing together case studies from Asia and Europe, the reader can see the differences in cultural importance given to the night, and how the challenges and opportunities of modernity have been played out in the East and the West.

Ideas and practices concerning sleep and night-time are constantly changing and widely varied in different cultures and societies. What we do during the day and night is the result of much political struggle. Trade unions, political parties, entrepreneurs, leaders and schools boards, all have an interest in questions of timing for the opening and closing of shops, the starting hours of schools and factories, and the number of hours people have to work and sleep. By drawing together comparative case studies from countries in both Asia and Europe, Night-time and Sleep in Asia and the West allows the reader to track the differences in the cultural importance given to the night, and to compare the ways in which the challenges and opportunities of modernity have been played out in the East and the West.

"Investigates the sleep patterns of babies and businessmen, of mothers and daughters, of the industrious and the idle. Read how mighty knights and zealous preachers value sleep, what medicine men and modern scholars think of it. Explore what disturbs lovers' sleep and how refugees ensure their restful slumber" - back cover.

This book brings together an unprecedented number and range of contributions from different disciplines relating to sleep in one comprehensive volume. The contributors explore the science of sleep - what it is, what makes it happen and why we do it - as well as the measurement of sleep, its importance for daytime performance and its sociological and cultural aspects. Sleep disorders, sleep quality and the importance of sleep for daytime performance are also explored, as are the ways in which sleep can be affected by medication and medical and psychiatric conditions. This groundbreaking and insightful book will be of great interest to students, academics and professionals in a wide range of disciplines, and anyone else who wishes to discover more about this fascinating topic.

The roots and effects of insomnia are complex, Eluned Summers-Bremner reveals in this fascinating study, and humans have employed everything from art to science to understand, explain, and mitigate this problem.

This volume provides a preventive medicine approach to sleep medicine, looking at the epidemiological evidence that sleep deprivation and disturbance is linked to ill health, and exploring the public health implications with a view to developing preventive strategies.

A great deal of progress has been made in the characterization assessment and treatment of sleep disorders in recent years. Detailing the functions of sleep and its effect on cognition and development, this book offers a comprehensive, practical approach to the evaluation and treatment of patients with sleep disorders.

Asian Anthropology raises important questions regarding the nature of anthropology and particularly the production and consumption of anthropological knowledge in Asia. Instead of assuming a universal standard or trajectory for the development of anthropology in Asia, the contributors to this volume begin with the appropriate premise that anthropologies in different Asian countries have developed and continue to develop according to their own internal dynamics. With chapters written by an international group of experts in the field, Asian Anthropology will be a useful teaching tool and a valuable resource for scholars working in Asian anthropology.