YOUR HEALTH

ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP?

Goal

This blog is solely for enlightening and broadening our understanding of how SLEEP affects our health, productivity, wellness, quality of life, and safety on roads and in the workplace.

Overview

Poor sleep health is a common problem with 25 percent of U.S. adults reporting insufficient sleep or rest at least 15 out of every 30 days. The public health burden of chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders, coupled with low awareness of poor sleep health among the general population, health care professionals, and policymakers, necessitates a well-coordinated strategy to improve sleep-related health.

Why Is Sleep Health Important?

Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and well-being. Sleep is a basic requirement for infant, child, and adolescent health and development. Sleep loss and untreated sleep disorders influence basic patterns of behavior that negatively affect family health and interpersonal relationships. Fatigue and sleepiness can reduce productivity and increase the chance for mishaps such as medical errors and motor vehicle or industrial accidents

Sleep timing and duration affect a number of endocrine, metabolic, and neurological functions that are critical to the maintenance of individual health.

What Are The Signs of Excessive Sleepiness?

Irritability and moodiness are some of the first signs a person experiences from lack of sleep. If a sleep-deprived person doesn't sleep after the initial signs, the person may then start to experience apathy, slowed speech and flattened emotional responses, impaired memory and an inability to be creative or multitask.

Amount of Sleep Needed 

Everyone's individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. Contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced.

Factors Affecting sleep Circuits

1.         Stress is the number one cause of short-term sleeping difficulties, according to sleep experts. Common triggers include school- or job-related pressures, a family or marriage problem and a serious illness or death in the family

2.         Drinking alcohol or beverages containing caffeine in the afternoon or evening, exercising close to bedtime, following an irregular morning and nighttime schedule, and working or doing other mentally intense activities right before or after getting into bed can disrupt sleep.

Health Problems & Sleep Disorders

A number of physical problems can interfere with your ability to fall or stay asleep. For example, arthritis and other conditions that cause pain, backache, or discomfort can make it difficult to sleep well. For women, pregnancy and hormonal shifts including those that cause premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or menopause and its accompanying hot flashes can also intrude on sleep.

Finally, certain medications such as decongestants, steroids and some medicines for high blood pressure, asthma, or depression can cause sleeping difficulties as a side effect.

It is a good idea to talk to a physician or mental health provider about any sleeping problem that recurs or persists for longer than a few weeks.

Reasons To Get Enough Sleep

• Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who'd slept after learning a task did better on tests later. 
• Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite. 
• Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents. 
• Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do. 
• Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat. 
• Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body's killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

Simple Tips to Improve and get good sleep every night

Keep books and bed separate, to train your brain that your bed (and not your books) is only for sleeping.

Well-planned strategies are essential to deep, restorative sleep you can count on, night after night. By learning to avoid common enemies of sleep and trying out a variety of healthy sleep-promoting techniques, you can discover your personal prescription to a good night’s rest.

The key, or secret, is to experiment. What works for some might not work as well for others. It’s important to find the sleep strategies that work best for you.

The first step to improving the quality of your rest is finding out how much sleep you need. How much sleep is enough? While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need at least eight hours of sleep each night to function at their best.

1. Don’t go to bed angry, try to put the issues of the day to rest.
2. Let bed be bed, so limit within reason, the activities in your bed.
3. Limit caffeine , Alcohol, Nicotine, and Other Chemicals that Interfere with Sleep.
4. Choose a wake-up time Set your alarm and train your body to wake up at the same time every day, regardless of the time you went to sleep. This promotes a healthy sleep-wake pattern, and helps set you on the path to more regular rest.
5. Nap Early—Or Not at All to make up for lost sleep.
6. Research relaxation learn a bit about meditative practices and rhythmic breathing to calm you down before bedtime.
7. Pick a protein A light protein snack about 30 minutes before bed can help the brain produce melatonin and serotonin, which will help you sleep better.
8. 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.
9. Balance Fluid Intake, but less at bed time.
10. 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.