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11
While a giraffe needs only two
hours of sleep each day to
survive, humans are far more
sleep-thirsty requiring four
times as long. And if we don’t
get the right amount of rest
our bodies react in more ways than one. Not only do
we get irritable – hence the saying “getting up on the
wrong side of the bed” – sleeplessness can affect the
body’s natural healing mechanism, immune system,
ability to cope with stress, memory function and
weight control. Yes, that’s right – if you don’t get
enough sleep you can kiss that diet success goodbye.
ACCORDING TO CQUNIVERSITY’S RESIDENT SLEEP EXPERT
AND HEAD OF THE APPLETON INSTITUTE RESEARCH CENTRE
PROFESSOR DREW DAWSON, HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS ARE
DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE WELLBEING IN YOUR WAKING
LIFE. “WE KNOW THAT A POOR SLEEP ROUTINE CAN IMPACT
ON ALL KINDS OF HEALTH FACTORS, CAUSING SIGNIFICANT
DETRIMENT TO YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL BEING. THE
IMPORTANCE OF GETTING GOOD, HEALTHY SLEEP THEREFORE
CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED.
“WHAT WE FIND IS THAT PEOPLE WHO DON’T GET ENOUGH
SLEEP ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A COMPROMISED
IMMUNE SYSTEM THEREFORE GET MORE COLDS AND FLUS.
THEY ARE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO BE LESS PRODUCTIVE IN THE
WORKPLACE AND HAVE MORE TIME OFF WORK.”
National Sleep Census
According to Australia’s largest and most
comprehensive sleep survey conducted by CQUniversity
and bed manufacturer Sealy, the vast majority, a
whopping 96 per cent, of Aussies say they wake up
tired from their sleep, leaving only 4 per cent waking
refreshed. Most of us also feel tired throughout the day
due to poor sleep. “Considering how important sleep
is and how much time we spend in bed, these results
indicate that the majority of us are not sleeping that
well,” says Sealy’s sleep expert Ross Gage.
While the majority of respondents to the survey
recognised 8 hours as the recommended amount of
sleep you need to perform at your best, many of us (70
per cent) wake up during the night due to some kind of
disturbance, from noisy neighbours and animals to loud
traffic and even the sound of rain. However our partners
are also to blame, with 35 per cent of those surveyed
saying they are often woken up during the night by
their spouse, from snoring, going to the bathroom or
answering phone calls or emails.
Sleep affects work
Do you work with moody colleagues? It may be that
they are just tired. This latest survey revealed that
most Aussies admitted to their work productivity being
affected due to tiredness and more than a third of us
admitted to falling asleep on the job. We even use lack
of sleep as an excuse to call in sick.
However sleeplessness can have more serious
consequences. Many workplace injuries have a direct
link to fatigue as a result of inadequate restorative
sleep. According to Workplace Health and Safety
Queensland’s (WHSQ) Chief Medical Officer Ki Douglas,
fatigue leads to poor judgement, poor performance on
skilled tasks (especially new or unfamiliar tasks), and
slower reaction times. “Fatigue stops you appreciating
how serious a situation has become. It is harder to
undertake complex tasks when fatigued.”
Research clearly shows that the risk of work-related
incidents is increased in people working more than 60
hours a week, or working 12 hours or more in a day.
Compared with an eight hour shift, incident rates
are doubled after 12 hours at work if no other control
measures are put in place. “For any single incident that
WHSQ investigates, it is very difficult to prove that
fatigue was causative as there are not tests that can be
done. However it is generally a process of excluding
other factors.” Douglas says WHSQ’s main message
is that fatigue is a shared responsibility between both
employer and employee.
Tired and getting fat
Scientists have for some time known that being
overweight can cause sleeplessness, but recent studies
have also found a correlation between poor sleep and
obesity. Professor Dawson says while the research is
controversial, it seems as though sleep deprivation may
be a contributing factor to people’s weight gain and
could also cause Type 2 diabetes.
“There could be both physiological and psychological
factors at play here. Firstly, researchers believe
hormones may be playing a part, making our bodies
misinterpret the feeling of tiredness for the need of
food. Secondly, when we’re sleep deprived we simply
can’t get motivated to exercise.”
Sleep hygiene
Like a continuous rollercoaster, people who suffer from
sleeplessness feel like they can never stop to recoup
their sleep loss. The hours awake continue to compound
leaving them continually tired. However, experts
believe that improving one’s sleep hygiene could hold
the key to a good night’s sleep, improving the body’s
restoration processes and providing suffers with some
reprieve.
Sleep hygiene is fundamentally habits that can help
us to sleep or stop us from sleeping. Taking simple
steps like improving bedtime routines, ensuring your
bedroom is comfortable for sleep and learning how to
relax, will increase your chances of getting the right
amount of good sleep.
ACCORDING TO DAWSON, ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS THAT CAN
AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO FALL ASLEEP IS THE USE OF VARIOUS
FORMS OF TECHNOLOGY JUST BEFORE WE CLOSE OUR EYES.
“WATCHING TV, LISTENING TO THE RADIO, USING A COMPUTER
OR TEXTING ON YOUR PHONE IN BED, MAY SEEM LIKE THE
PERFECT WAY TO WIND DOWN, BUT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
THIS COULD BE DOING JUST THE OPPOSITE.”
DID YOU KNOW?
People who exercise fall asleep faster
More than half of Australians sleep with a fitted sheet, top
sheet and doona combination
The most popular activities in bed (aside from sleep and
intimacy) are reading, watching TV, organising or folding
clothing and using the computer
16 per cent of Aussies require some sort of medication to
fall asleep
More than a quarter of Aussies talk in their sleep
4 per cent of Aussies admit to sleep walking
*Results from the Sealy Sleep Census
ISSUE 13