Do You Sleeplike a baby? A good night’s sleep is of utmost importance, and your body needs time to rest and restore its systems. But, many people have an irregular sleeping pattern, and insomnia is a leading cause for the development of many ailments. 12 <strong>Issue</strong> <strong>62</strong> <strong>October</strong> D <strong>2017</strong>(Paul).indd 12 19/09/<strong>2017</strong> 17:30
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the recommended number of sleeping hours depends on the age factor. The quality of your sleep determines the energy you have throughout the day, and affects your health condition. How much is enough? It is common sense that our bodies need to unwind and rest each night and that insufficient sleep can leads to severe health problems, so trying to get enough rest throughout the night is paramount. Recently, Charles Czeisler, a professor at Harvard University, gathered a team of experts, to research. They went through numerous studies conducted in the period between 2004 and 2014. The goal of their research was determining the proper number of sleeping hours for every age group. They also studied the effects of sleeping on overall health. What stops us? If you are having trouble nodding off when the lights go out, it could be down to a number of factors. Stress and modern technology are the most common. Stress stimulates the secretion of cortisol. Excessive secretion of the stress hormone causes sleep disorder, sickness, and discomfort. The light released by technological devices blocks the production of melatonin. To help combat this, most modern smartphones have a nightime mode which turns the screen to a yellowish tinge - but experts recommend that we ditch the tv and tech at least an hour before retiring. If you are, like many of us so often are these day - scrolling your messages or faffing on Facebook late in the evening, now might be time to get back into old fashioned habits and read a good paperback? Our challenge to you is to try this for one week and see if your sleep improves. Unhealthy sleeping patterns often lead to fatigue, and make you unable to make decisions, concentrate, think clearly and even eat. Scientists have now confirmed the link between sleep disorders and health problems. If you sleep less than five hours a night, your heart will suffer a lot. Sleeping less than 7 hours creates perfect conditions for the development of severe health problems like uncontrolled weight gain and diabetes. Try to sleep well, and your body will thank you. So, how can you achieve sleep nirvana? Apparently, it’s all about keeping in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. Getting in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, is one of the most important strategies for sleeping better. If you keep a regular sleep-wake schedule you’ll feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times, even if you only alter your sleep schedule by an hour or two. Experts also advise that we should try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. This helps set our body’s internal clock and optimize the quality of the sleep we get.. Choose a bed time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn. If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm. If you need an alarm clock, you may need an earlier bedtime. Avoid sleeping in— even on weekends. The more your weekend/weekday sleep schedules differ, the worse the jetlag-like symptoms you’ll experience. If you need to make up for a late night, opt for a daytime nap rather than sleeping in. This allows you to pay off your sleep debt without disturbing your natural sleep-wake rhythm. Be smart about napping. While napping is a good way to make up for lost sleep, if you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night, napping can make things worse. Limit naps to 15 to 20 minutes in the early afternoon. Apparently - 18 minutes is the optimum we need for a pownap reset - who knew! Fighting after-dinner drowsiness. If you get sleepy way before your bedtime - we’ve all done it... midway through the evening and we find ourseves dozing in front of the TV... Even if you don’t feel like it, get off the couch and do something mildly stimulating, such as washing the dishes, calling a friend, or getting clothes ready for the next day. If you give in to the drowsiness, you may wake up later in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. Here’s what is needed and what is not throughout our lives. Newborn (0-3 months) -- 14-17 hours. Babies (4-11 months) -- 12-15 hours. Children (1-2 years) -- 11-14 hours. Preschool (3-5 years) -- 10-13 hours. School Age (6-13 years) -- 9-11 hours. Teens (14-17 years) -- 8-10 hours. Youth (18-25 years) -- 7-9 hours. Adults (26-64 years) -- 7-9 hours. Seniors (over 65 years) -- 7-8 hours. eye Heah & Wlb Are you getting enough? 13 <strong>Issue</strong> <strong>62</strong> <strong>October</strong> D <strong>2017</strong>(Paul).indd 13 19/09/<strong>2017</strong> 17:30
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