FEBRUARY 2024 GLENFIELD GAZETTE ONLINE

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FEBRUARY 2024 GLENFIELD GAZETTE
We spend around one-third of our lives asleep.
Up until about 30 years ago, scientists knew
fairly little about what really happens when
our heads hit the pillow, but thanks to modern
research, we now have a much deeper
understanding of sleep.
March is National Bed Month, an annual event
here in the UK founded by the National Sleep
Council and the National Bed Federation to
promote the benefi ts of good sleep. Besides
the importance of sleep itself, the month
is also intended to raise awareness about
the importance of a quality bed and how it
contributes to ensuring a proper night’s sleep.
Also marked on 15 March this year is World
Sleep Day, a celebration of sleep.
With all that in mind, we look at why a good
night’s sleep is so important to our well-being
and daily lives.
Sleep patterns can be affected by everything
from stress to age. Sometimes, the pace of
modern life barely gives us time to stop and rest.
It can make getting a good night’s sleep on a
regular basis seem like a dream. But sleep is as
important for good health as diet and exercise.
Good sleep improves your brain performance,
mood, and health.
Sleep for repair
Sleep is far from ‘downtime’ when our brain gets
to rest. While we sleep, our brains are working –
sleep helps prepare the brain to learn, remember
and create. US studies discovered that the brain
has a drainage system that removes toxins that
have built up during the day while we sleep.
• Getting less than seven hours’ sleep can
have a hugely negative impact on productivity
during the day. Just an extra hour can make
all the difference.
Sleep for better health
Sleep can aid recovery and healing and is
important in regulating the hormones that control
appetite and hunger. Tiredness leads to hormonal
changes that raise the appetite and boost stress
levels – and when we’re feeling stressed, of
course, we’re more likely to comfort-eat.
• The body goes through some essential
maintenance while we sleep, including the
repair and growth of tissues, muscles, bones
and blood vessels.
Stick to a routine
Routines are important for maintaining our
circadian rhythm (the body’s internal clock),
which is responsible for keeping things like
your sleep cycle, eating patterns and hormone
production in check.
Sticking to the same sleeping and waking time
each day can help keep the circadian rhythm on
track and make falling and staying asleep easier.
Did you know?
• One of the reasons why fi re alarms were
invented is because noise can wake us up
from sleep, but smells can’t. A study carried
out in the States by Brown University found
that neither the smell of peppermint nor
noxious pyridine (a component of coal tar)
woke participants up.
• Newborn babies typically sleep 16-18 hours
a day for body and brain development. This
is around the same amount of sleep as a
fully grown tiger (18-20 hours), which needs
this much sleep to conserve energy and
rejuvenate to stalk, sprint and make kills.
• Older adults (aged 55 and above) often
dream in black and white, while younger
people (aged 25 and younger) always
dream in colour. Researchers have linked
this difference in dream colour to the impact
that television has had. Dreaming in black
and white is largely linked to childhood
exposure to black-and-white television.
Book News
SNIPPETS
• A new adaptation of David
Nicholls’ One Day is coming
to Netflix, with all 14
episodes launching on 8
February.
• Way Back, the second
novel by the broadcaster
and author Sara Cox, is
published in March.
• Prince Harry’s
autobiography, Spare, was
the bestselling book on
Amazon in 2023.
• Whilst Gruffalo creator,
Julia Donaldson, was
named the UK’s bestselling
author for the fourth year
in a row.
• James Patterson has coauthored
a standalone
novel with the late author
and film-maker Michael
Crichton, 15 years after
Crichton’s death.
Eruption, due out in June,
is based on Crichton’s
unfinished “passion project”
which his wife discovered
after his death and asked
Patterson to complete.
From Leicester
Libraries Book News
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