Can Humans Hibernate?

Picture this: You sit down at a table covered with giant dishes of your favorite foods. You eat and eat, but don’t seem quite full yet. You eat for hours. When you’re finally satisfied, you wipe of your face, go up to your bedroom, and fall asleep. You sleep until springtime.

Sound nice? I think so too. Unfortunately, humans aren’t really built for hibernation. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though!

Hibernation is an extended period of time, usually in the coldest, darkest months of the year, that some animals spend in a sleepy state. Often, these animals will build up fat stores before hibernation so they don’t need to eat as much (or at all!) during hibernation. Once they begin hibernation, their body temperature and heart rate can drop extremely low. Their metabolism drops as well, so they don’t need as much energy! The energy they do need, they can get from their fat stores.

We can’t really do that, like bears and squirrels do. However, lemurs, which are fairly close relatives on the evolutionary family tree, can hibernate.

Scientists were actually able to make mice hibernate. Mice are often studied in labs because they are similar to humans in a lot of ways, but much easier to study. Mice don’t normally hibernate, but scientists were able to create a hibernation state for a bunch of mice. By exposing them to hydrogen sulfide instead of oxygen, the mice slowed down their metabolic processes and lowered their body temperature. When the hydrogen sulfide was removed and replaced with normal air, hours later, the mice went back to normal. They even appeared to be unharmed by the whole experience!

It would be cool if humans could hibernate. Not only that, it could also help us survive long distance travel through space. Until then, you have to wake up every morning.

Sources:

https://www.science.org.au/curious/hibernation

https://www.livescience.com/33053-can-humans-hibernate-suspended-animation.html