»How many hours of sleep are enough for good health?
»Twelve Simple Tips to Improve Your Sleep
»Common Sleep Disorders
»Alcohol and sleep
»Top 10 Sleep Myths
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In addition to age, other factors may affect how many hours of sleep you need. For example:
Aging. Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as younger adults. As you get older, however, your sleeping patterns may change. Older adults tend to sleep more lightly and awaken more frequently during the night than do younger adults. This may create a need for or tendency toward daytime napping.
Previous sleep deprivation. If you're sleep deprived, the amount of sleep you need increases.
Sleep quality. If your sleep is frequently interrupted or cut short, you're not getting quality sleep — and the quality of your sleep is just as important as the quantity.
Although some people claim to feel rested on just a few hours of sleep a night, research shows that people who sleep so little over many nights don't perform as well on complex mental tasks as do people who get closer to seven hours of sleep a night.
Additionally, studies among adults show that getting much more or less than seven hours of sleep a night is associated with a higher mortality rate.
If you experience frequent daytime sleepiness, even after increasing the amount of quality sleep you get, consult your doctor. He or she may be able to identify any underlying causes — and help you get a better night's sleep.
Timothy Morgenthaler, M.D.
source: Mayo Clinic
Napping isn't just for children. Understand types of naps, pros and cons of napping, and the best way to
take a nap.
If you're sleep deprived or just looking for a way to relax, you may be thinking about taking a nap. Napping at the wrong time of day or for too long can backfire, though. Understand how to get the most out of a nap.
What are the benefits of napping?
Napping offers various benefits for healthy adults, including:
*Relaxation
*Reduced fatigue
*Increased alertness
*Improved mood
*Improved performance, including quicker reaction time, better memory, less
confusion, and fewer accidents and mistakes
What are the downsides to napping?
Napping isn't for everyone. Some people have trouble sleeping in places other than their own beds, while others simply can't sleep during the day. Napping can also have negative effects, such as:
Sleep inertia. You may feel groggy and disoriented after waking up from a nap.
Nighttime sleep problems. Short naps generally don't affect nighttime sleep quality for most people. However, if you experience insomnia or poor sleep quality at night, napping may worsen these problems. Long naps may interfere with nighttime sleep.
Mayo Clinic staff
source: Mayo Clinic
#1 Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, Nicotine, and Other Chemicals that Interfere with Sleep
As any coffee lover knows, caffeine is a stimulant that can keep you awake. So avoid caffeine (found in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, and some pain relievers) for four to six hours before bedtime. Similarly, smokers should refrain from using tobacco products too close to bedtime.
Although alcohol may help bring on sleep, after a few hours it acts as a stimulant, increasing the number of awakenings and generally decreasing the quality of sleep later in the night. It is therefore best to limit alcohol consumption to one to two drinks per day, or less, and to avoid drinking within three hours of bedtime.
#2 Turn Your Bedroom into a Sleep-Inducing Environment
A quiet, dark, and cool environment can help promote sound slumber. Why do you think bats congregate in caves for their daytime sleep? To achieve such an environment, lower the volume of outside noise with earplugs or a "white noise" appliance. Use heavy curtains, blackout shades, or an eye mask to block
light, a powerful cue that tells the brain that it's time to wake up. Keep the temperature comfortably cool—between 60 and 75°F—and the room well ventilated. And make sure your bedroom is equipped with a comfortable mattress and pillows. (Remember that most mattresses wear out after ten years.)
Also, if a pet regularly wakes you during the night, you may want to consider keeping it out of your bedroom.
It may help to limit your bedroom activities to sleep and sex only. Keeping computers, TVs, and work materials out of the room will strengthen the mental association between your bedroom and sleep.
#3 Establish a Soothing Pre-Sleep Routine
Ease the transition from wake time to sleep time with a period of relaxing activities an hour or so before bed. Take a bath (the rise, then fall in body temperature promotes drowsiness), read a book, watch television, or practice relaxation exercises. Avoid stressful, stimulating activities—doing work, discussing emotional issues. Physically and psychologically stressful activities can cause the body to secrete the stress hormone cortisol, which is associated with increasing alertness. If you tend to take your problems to bed, try writing them down—and then putting them aside.
#4 Go to Sleep When You’re Truly Tired
Struggling to fall sleep just leads to frustration. If you’re not asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed, go to another room, and do something relaxing, like reading or listening to music until you are tired enough to sleep.
#5 Don’t Be a Nighttime Clock-Watcher
Staring at a clock in your bedroom, either when you are trying to fall asleep or when you wake in the middle of the night, can actually increase stress, making it harder to fall asleep. Turn your clock’s face away from you.
And if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep in about 20 minutes, get up and engage in a quiet, restful activity such as reading or listening to music. And keep the lights dim; bright light can stimulate your internal clock. When your eyelids are drooping and you are ready to sleep, return to bed.
#6 Use Light to Your Advantage
Natural light keeps your internal clock on a healthy sleep-wake cycle. So let in the light first thing in the morning and get out of the office for a sun break during the day.
#7 Keep Your Internal Clock Set with a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day sets the body’s "internal clock" to expect sleep at a certain time night after night. Try to stick as closely as possible to your routine on weekends to avoid a Monday morning sleep hangover. Waking up at the same time each day is the very best way to set your clock, and even if you did not sleep well the night before, the extra sleep drive will help you consolidate sleep the following night.
#8 Nap Early—Or Not at All
Many people make naps a regular part of their day. However, for those who find falling asleep or staying asleep through the night problematic, afternoon napping may be one of the culprits. This is because late-day naps decrease sleep drive. If you must nap, it’s better to keep it short and before 5 p.m.
#9 Lighten Up on Evening Meals
Eating a pepperoni pizza at 10 p.m. may be a recipe for insomnia. Finish dinner several hours before bedtime and avoid foods that cause indigestion. If you get hungry at night, snack on foods that (in your experience) won't disturb your sleep, perhaps dairy foods and carbohydrates.
#10 Balance Fluid Intake
Drink enough fluid at night to keep from waking up thirsty—but not so much and so close to bedtime that you will be awakened by the need for a trip to the bathroom.
#11 Exercise Early
Exercise can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly—as long as it's done at the right time. Exercise stimulates the body to secrete the stress hormone cortisol, which helps activate the alerting mechanism in the brain. This is fine, unless you're trying to fall asleep. Try to finish exercising at least three hours before bed or work out earlier in the day.
#12 Follow Through
Some of these tips will be easier to include in your daily and nightly routine than others. However, if you stick with them, your chances of achieving restful sleep will improve. That said, not all sleep problems are so easily treated and could signify the presence of a sleep disorder such as apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, or another clinical sleep problem. If your sleep difficulties don’t improve through good sleep hygiene, you may want to consult your physician or a sleep specialist.
source: Healthy Sleep
Insomnia
Insomnia is a disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or both. With insomnia, you usually awaken feeling unrefreshed, which takes a toll on your ability to function during the day. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life.
Snoring
Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when your breathing is obstructed in some way while you're sleeping. Sometimes snoring may indicate a serious health condition. In addition, snoring can be a nuisance to your partner.
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and you feel tired even after a full night's sleep.
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. People with narcolepsy often find it difficult to stay awake for long periods of time, regardless of the circumstances. Narcolepsy can cause serious disruptions in your daily routine.
Restless legs syndrome & periodic limb movement
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition in which your legs feel extremely uncomfortable while you're sitting or lying down. It makes you feel like getting up and moving around. When you do so, the unpleasant feeling of restless legs syndrome temporarily goes away.
Heartburn
Heartburn is a burning sensation in your chest, just behind your breastbone. Heartburn pain is often worse when lying down or bending over.
source: OhioHealth online
Alcohol seems to be a frequently used sedative. However, it has strings attached, since you need more and more to get the same effect. That one little drink can gradually become two little drinks, and then three, and four, etc.
Alcohol interferes with healthy sleep. The processes that go on in your brain during sleep don’t go as smoothly when you’ve drunk alcohol.
Waking and getting up is always nicer if alcohol hasn’t affected your sleep. If you’re used to going to sleep under the influence, you’ll find it’s indeed harder to go to sleep when sober. Therefore it is important to realise that your body needs time to adjust to a healthy sleep pattern after you’ve quit drinking.
There is also a great deal of individual variation within healthy sleeping patterns. Some people always lie awake for an hour before they fall asleep.
Others sleep lightly and are easily woken by things like noises. If you sleep badly, relaxation exercises can help.
source: Look at Your Drinking
If you do want to savor a little wine with your dinner, here's how to make sure alcohol won't hamper your shut-eye that night:
Follow the three-hour rule. Finish drinking at least three hours before bedtime.
Take it easy. Don't overdo your imbibing -- stick with one or two drinks per day.
Retire early. Try not to stay up too much past your usual bedtime -- this only increases alcohol's sleep-depriving effects.
Hydrate. Follow the one-for-one rule: Drink one glass of water for every glass of alcohol to help prevent dehydration. And down a few extra glasses of water
the next morning, too.
source: WebMD
Myth 1: Sleep is a time when your body and brain shut down for rest and relaxation.
No evidence shows that any major organ (including the brain) or regulatory system in the body shuts down during sleep. Some physiological processes actually become more active while you sleep. For example, secretion of certain hormones is boosted, and activity of the pathways in the brain needed for learning and
memory is heightened.
Myth 2: Getting just 1 hour less sleep per night than needed will not have any effect on your daytime functioning.
This lack of sleep may not make you noticeably sleepy during the day. But even slightly less sleep can affect your ability to think properly and respond quickly, and it can compromise your cardiovascular health and energy balance as well as the ability to fight infections, particularly if lack of sleep continues. If you consistently do not get enough sleep, eventually a sleep debt builds up that will make you excessively tired during the day.
Myth 3: Your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules.
Your biological clock makes you most alert during the daytime and most drowsy at night. Thus, even if you work the night shift, you will naturally feel sleepy when nighttime comes. Most people can reset their biological clock, but only by appropriately timed cues—and even then, by 1–2 hours per day at best.
Consequently, it can take more than a week to adjust to a dramatically altered sleep/wake cycle, such as you encounter when traveling across several time zones or switching from working the day shift to the night shift.
Myth 4: People need less sleep as they get older.
Older people don’t need less sleep, but they often get less sleep or find their sleep less refreshing. That’s because as people age, they spend less time in the deep, restful stages of sleep and are more easily awakened. Older people are also more likely to have insomnia or other medical conditions that disrupt
their sleep.
Myth 5: Extra sleep at night can cure you of problems with excessive daytime fatigue.
Not only is the quantity of sleep important but also the quality of sleep. Some people sleep 8 or 9 hours a night but don’t feel well rested when they wake up because the quality of their sleep is poor. A number of sleep disorders and other medical conditions affect the quality of sleep. Sleeping more won’t
alleviate the daytime sleepiness these disorders or conditions cause. However, many of these disorders or conditions can be treated effectively with changes in behavior or with medical therapies.
Myth 6: You can make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekends.
Although this sleeping pattern will help relieve part of a sleep debt, it will not completely make up for the lack of sleep. This pattern also will not make up for impaired performance during the week because of not sleeping enough. Furthermore, sleeping later on the weekends can affect your biological clock so that it is much harder to go to sleep at the right time on Sunday nights and get up early on Monday mornings.
Myth 7: Naps are a waste of time.
Although naps do not substitute for a good night’s sleep, they can be restorative and help counter some of the impaired performance that results from not getting enough sleep at night. Naps can actually help you learn how to do certain tasks quicker. But avoid taking naps later than 3 p.m., as late naps can interfere with your ability to fall asleep at night. Also, limit your naps to no longer than 1 hour because longer naps will make it harder to wake up and get back in the swing of things. If you take frequent naps during the day, you may have a sleep disorder that should be treated.
Myth 8: Snoring is a normal part of sleep.
Snoring during sleep is common, particularly as a person gets older. Evidence is growing that snoring on a regular basis can make you sleepy during the day and more susceptible to diabetes and heart disease. In addition, some studies link frequent snoring to problem behavior and poorer school achievement in
children. Loud, frequent snoring can also be a sign of sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder that should be treated.
Myth 9: Children who don’t get enough sleep at night will show signs of sleepiness during the day.
Unlike adults, children who don’t get enough sleep at night typically become more active than normal during the day. They also show difficulty paying attention and behaving properly. Consequently, they may be misdiagnosed as having attentiondeficit hyperactivity.
Myth 10: The main cause of insomnia is worry.
Although worry or stress can cause a short bout of insomnia, a persistent inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night can be caused by a number of other factors. Certain medications and sleep disorders can keep you up at night. Other common causes of insomnia are depression, anxiety disorders, and
asthma, arthritis, or other medical conditions with symptoms that become more troublesome at night. Some people who have chronic insomnia also appear to be more revved up than normal, so it is harder for them to fall asleep.
source: Your Guide to Healthy Sleep
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