Lucy Mangan: there aren’t many plus sides to insomnia, but I think I’ve found a few

I've got insomnia. But at least it's given me time to think. And to face a few home truths

Do the maths: the science behind the numbers that govern our lives

Eat five portions of fruit and veg, drink eight glasses of water, exercise five times a week… these figures grab our attention, but do the numbers really add up? Rosie Ifould finds out

Tired? Troubled love life? Try banning gadgets from the bedroom

Amy Fleming: Late-night fiddling with devices stimulates your brain and invades what should be a quiet space. Time to turn off

Swaddling babies can cause them hip problems, doctors warn

Practice of wrapping babies tightly in blankets or sheets is popular, but studies have shown it can lead to dislocation or abnormal development of the hip

Why do we sleep? To clean our brains, say US scientists

Cerebral spinal fluid found to pump around the brain of sleeping mice, flushing out waste products like a biological dishwasher

Children with regular bedtimes less likely to misbehave, research shows

Youngsters with no set pattern more likely to have behavioural problems and emotional difficulties, suggests UCL study

Dante may have suffered from narcolepsy, says Italian academic

Divine Comedy author's obsession with sleep suggests he had neurological disorder narcolepsy, believes Giuseppe Plazzi

Midday nap helps pre-school children learn, new study finds

Phasing out napping in nurseries may harm children's ability to store memories, researchers have found

‘Sleep apnoea made me feel as if I was dying’

Ruth Lopardo struggled for years with extreme and unexplained fatigue. Then specialists discovered the cause: a debilitating condition known as obstructive sleep apnoea

What’s the point of sleep?

Pete Etchells: A new animal study suggests one possible function: to promote the repair of support structures in the brain