Severe sleep depravation has definite links to illness
and memory loss although there are documented exceptions.
Strange but I seem to be the opposite of other people in
this thread, I used to need less sleep that I do now, or at
least I used to get by without feeling too tired.
I have a sneaking feeling that this has something to
do with parenthood rather than ageing.
Over here in the UK you can now get a brand of coffee called 'rocket
fuel' which has added caffiene, on some mornings it's a must at the
moment.
--
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.