Originally Posted by EdGrimley

As 80 mentioned, no two humans are alike. Pilot are pressurized/depressurized with each flight, bombarded with radiation that passes through the skin of the airplane and UV light that comes directly through the front windshield for more time than is healthy (a little bit of sunlight is healthy...too much is damaging).

Pilots sometimes go from extreme heat to extreme cold, develop poor circulation (especially in the legs) from sitting too much, do not typically get adequate nutrition due to tight schedules or food not being readily available....or eating junk food to fill the void.

Other factors, include higher stress levels going into unfamiliar locations, dealing with WX/unruly pax and experience increased heart rate/stress during the take off and landing phase of flight which all hammer away at the bodies healthy function. Common sense says pilots should get more restorative sleep than the suggested guidelines to make up for these things that deplete/break down the human body and cause increase physical/mental fatigue.

Let me add one other item that affects the quality of sleep. It's a complete crap shoot knowing what the bed you will be sleeping in is like. The sleep studies I have seen always used the same controlled environment. Pilots don't know if the room will have a pillow that crank your neck to 45 degrees, a hard/medium/soft bed that breaths or makes you sweat, air conditioning system you can't get dialed in the same as back home. Needless to say, many things working against the standard here.