Whitchurch and Llandaff Living Issue 68

can we hibernate now please?
While it's tempting to cwtch and sleep through the dark months
of autumn and winter, can humans really hibernate?
Hibernation is the way many
animals survive cold winters,
especially when food sources are
so scarce. Many animals don't have
the option to migrate to warmer
climes so migration is their best
option of survival.
In order to survive their
hibernation, animals will fatten
themselves up as much as they can
during the warmer months. They'll
also find a place to stay during
their hibernation. Their place of
residence during the winter months
needs to be a safe one since they
could be vulnerable to predators.
They'll spend their time getting
their beds comfy and cosy, but also
hidden from view so that they are
safe.
This all sounds wonderful,
especially when we as humans are
faced with colder and darker nights.
The appeal of this makes us long
to cuddle up in a warm place and
22
sleep through to spring. But is this
at all possible?
Recent studies have shown that
our ancestors did at least try, even
if they weren't that successful.
A study of human skeletons
unearthed in a Spanish cave called
Sima de los Huesos – the Chasm of
Bones showed that early humans
possibly attempted to hibernate.
The deep shaft where the
skeletons were found is home to
a huge number of fossils, where
archaeologists have discovered
thousands of skeletal remains that
are around 430,000 years old.
The study explained that bears
utilise specialised metabolic
processes that protect their bodies
during their winter sleep. However,
if bears don't stock up on the right
nutrients before they bed down for
the winter, they can wake up in the
spring with a host of diseases.
The study at Sima de los Huesos
showed that this is likely what
happened to our human ancestors
who attempted to replicate the
hibernation process themselves.
Lack of Vitamin D, which we get
directly from the sun, would have
also caused bones to become
brittle during the winter months.
When we think of hibernation, we
often think of an extended period
of sleep but this isn't exactly how
hibernation works. Animals instead
experience what's called torpor,
the physiological state of metabolic
depression, in which the body's
temperature, breathing, and energy
expenditure drop. There is no
evidence to show that humans are
capable of doing this.
Instead, scientists have discovered
that humans need more sleep
during the winter, and whether
you're an early bird or a night owl,
all human sleep is regulated by the
sun.