Power nap

Insomnia afflicts many people. In Japan, 20 percent of the adult population reportedly have the sleeping disorder that also adversely affects their ability to function during the day.

Local pharmaceutical company Nxera Pharma Japan came up with a drug called QUVIVIQ to help adult insomniacs sleep. It describes the drug as a dual orexin receptor antagonist that offers insomniacs “not only a better night sleep but also an improvement in daytime functioning,” Business Weekly reports.

One seemingly insomniac Japanese, however, doesn’t need QUVIVIQ which was recently approved for commercial distribution by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Bodybuilder and father of one Daisuke Hori, 40, claims that his body and mind function normally and he does not feel tired despite his lack of sleep.

“As long as you do sports or drink coffee an hour before eating, you can stave off drowsiness,” he told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The Hyogo prefecture resident began cutting down his sleep hours 12 years ago to gain more time doing activities. He now claims to sleep only 30 minutes per night, waking up naturally, refreshed and full of energy, according to SCMP.

Dr. Thomas Kilkenny, director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, said what Hori is doing is impossible and warned “that sleep deprivation causes extreme negative effects on the mind and body,” New York Post (NYP) reports.

“Continued lack of sleep will cause death. Sleep deprivation is banned by the Geneva convention as a form of torture. A human cannot function correctly without the proper amount of sleep,” Kilkenny added, according to NYP. “I doubt this gentleman’s story is accurate and it definitely is not going to increase his life expectancy.”