Sleep - why is it important ?
Please click on the links below for information about sleep
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/24/want-to-get-a-good-nights-sleep-first-of-all-stop-trying
Link to Guardian article regarding sleep
Link to you tube video by Russell Foster - Why We Sleep?
Please click on the link below for a recent interview in the Guardian with Russell Foster
https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/25/sleep-scientist-russell-foster-i-want-to-take-the-anxiety-around-sleep-away
Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep taken from 'Why We Sleep' By Matthew Walker
Matthew Walker is a neuroscientist specialising in sleep disorders.
Please note that all these tips may not suit all individuals - please explore what helps suit you.
1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed
and wake up at the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a
hard time adjusting to changes in sleep patterns. Sleeping later on the
weekends won’t fully make up for a lack of sleep during the week and will make
it harder to wake up early on Monday morning. Set an alarm for bedtime. Often
we set an alarm for when it’s time to wake up but fail to do so for when it’s
time to go to sleep. If there is only one piece of advice you remember and take
from these twelve tips, this should be it.
2. Exercise is great, but not too late
in the day. Try to exercise at least thirty minutes on most days but not later
than two to three hours before your bedtime.
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee,
colas, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and its affects
can take as long as eight hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee
in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night.
Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly.
In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine
withdrawal.
4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
Having a nightcap or alcoholic beverage before sleep may help you relax, but heavy
use robs you of REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. Heavy
alcohol ingestion also may contribute to impairment in breathing at night. You
also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects of the alcohol
have worn off.
5. Avoid large meals and beverages late
at night. A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion, which
interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent
awakenings to urinate.
6. If possible, avoid medicines that
delay or disrupt your sleep. Some commonly prescribed heart, blood pressure or
asthma medications, as well as some over-the-counter and herbal remedies for
coughs, colds or allergies, can disrupt sleep patterns. If you have trouble
sleeping, talk to your health care provider or pharmacist to see whether any
drugs you’re taking might be contributing to your insomnia and ask whether they
can be taken at other times during the day or early in the evening.
7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can
help make up for lost sleep, but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall
asleep at night.
8. Relax before bed. Don’t overschedule
your day so that no time is left for unwinding. A relaxing activity, such as
reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual.
9. Take a hot bath before bed. The drop
in body temperature after getting out of the bath may help you feel sleepy, and
the bath can help you relax and slow down so you’re more ready to sleep.
10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom,
gadget-free bedroom. Get rid of anything in your bedroom that might distract
you from sleep, such as noises, bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or warm
temperatures. You sleep better if the temperature in the room is kept on the
cool side. A TV, cell phone, or computer in the bedroom can be a distraction
and deprive you of needed sleep. Having a comfortable mattress and pillow can
help promote a good night’s sleep. Individuals who have insomnia often watch
the clock. Turn the clock’s face out of view so you don’t worry about the time
while trying to fall sleep.
11. Have the right sunlight exposure.
Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in
natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes each day. If possible, wake up
with the sun or use very bright lights in the morning. Sleep experts recommend
that, if you have problems falling asleep, you should get an hour of exposure
to morning sunlight and turn down the lights before bedtime.
12. Don’t lie in bed awake. If you find
yourself still awake after staying in bed for more than twenty minutes or if
you are starting to feel anxious or worried, get up and do some relaxing
activity until you feel sleepy. The anxiety of not being able to sleep can make
it harder to fall asleep.
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Easy
Ways to Live Well, BBC One’s new series, sees celebrity chef
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and presenter Steph McGovern tackle the latest
science around health.
Radio Times‘s David Butcher had this to say about Series 1: Episode 2
“I like the way this series isn’t afraid to road-test the kind of health
fixes most of us might dismiss as somewhere between faddy and daft. This week using
singing to treat chronic pain and tackling memory loss via knitting.
“But suspend your scepticism. There’s real science at work here and in
one case the results are pretty mind-blowing. Steph and Hugh visit a garden centre in the Wirral where the staff have
so many aches and pains they take 249 over-the-counter painkillers a week
between them. Surely starting a choir won’t make a dent in that? “Steph tries that approach while Hugh’s drug-free pain relief solution
involves taking a daily placebo. Deceptive? No, because he tells them in
advance it’s a dummy pill. And the weird thing is, it still works.”
The series continues on BBC One on Wednesday 29th January 2020
at 8pm. It will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after
broadcast and the previous 2 episodes are on BBC iPlayer.
