This year, resolve to put sleep-deprived ways to bed
Getting more rest among healthy habits worth adopting
By AMY NEFF ROTH
healthy living
If Dr. Lee Edmonds had his way, you'd resolve to sleep more in the new year.
Too many people starve their brains and hurt their ability to function by skimping on the zzz's, said Edmonds, a pulmonologist and medical director of the Sleep Disorder Center at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown.
"We don't understand what happens during sleep, but somehow it's food for our brains, and it recharges our systems. ... Clearly it's required," he said.
The new year
When it comes to healthy New Year's resolutions, most people don't think about sleeping more. Many resolve to lose weight, eat better, exercise more or quit smoking. But, according to local health-care providers, there are a lot more things people can do in the new year and thereafter to take care of their health.
Making sure kids wear helmets, keeping better track of prescriptions, being a better role model for children and encouraging yourself to walk more by parking as far from stores as you can get are among their suggestions. But for Edmonds, the would-be resolution is sleep more.
Overcaffeinated and grumpy
"American culture is terribly sleep deprived," he said. "That's why we overcaffeinate and are grumpy. ... The coffee shops are just booming. We tend to have too much to do. We stay up too late. The average adult needs eight hours, but most probably get five or six."
Edmonds' concerns are backed up by data from the 2005 Sleep in America Poll by the National Sleep Foundation. On average, American adults only sleep 6.8 hours on weekdays, the poll found. And the number of adults sleeping eight hours or more a night has been falling - from 38 percent in 2001 to 30 percent in 2002 to 26 percent in 2005, according to poll results.
The poll also found that half of respondents said they wake up feeling "tired, fatigued or not up to par" at least once a week. And 17 percent said they feel that way every day or almost every day.
No easy fix
But Edmonds knows that recognizing the problem doesn't necessarily make it easy to fix. "Everyone wants to do it (get more sleep), but they just allow the urgency of what they have to do to crowd in. All our modern conveniences haven't really saved us time. They just make us do more," he said.
So what do you do if you sincerely want to sleep more, but are also trying to find time to exercise daily, attend smoking-cessation classes, meditate or pray, eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables, drink a cup of green tea, eat an ounce of dark chocolate, sip a glass of red wine and figure out how to cook a yummy meal with soy? No easy answers there, but Edmonds had one suggestion.
"Get rid of the TV. Most people could gain about two hours in a day if they get rid of their TV. Shut off their cable for a month and just try it," he said.
If you are chronically tired, sleep more or talk to your doctor to see if you have a medical problem or a sleep disorder, Edmonds said.
Whatever you do, though, Edmonds said, don't accept fatigue as normal.
Sleep like a baby: 10 bedtime tips
1. Go to bed at the same time every night.
2. Use the bed only for sleep.
3. Avoid alcohol and caffeine for several hours before bed.
4. Don't sleep late on weekends. You'll have jet lag - without the frequent flier miles - on Monday.
5. Turn down the thermostat.
6. Exercise regularly, but finish at least three hours before bedtime.
7. Before bed, have a "worry time": Write down things that are bothering you, then leave them on the paper for the night.
8. Know the side effects of your prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
9. Learn and use relaxation techniques.
10. If you haven't fallen asleep within 15 to 30 minutes, get out of bed and read or watch TV until you're tired.
Some common sleep problems
- Daytime sleepiness: It's normal to be sleepy in midafternoon. If you can't stay awake at other times, your sleep is inadequate in quality or quantity.
- REM behavior disorder: Normally, in the dream stages of sleep, most of our muscles are paralyzed so that we don't act out our dreams. In REM behavior disorder, most common in older males, that doesn't happen. The sufferer may whack his spouse or injure himself by diving into the headboard.
- Insomnia: Problems getting to sleep, staying asleep or waking early. Acute insomnia, from stress, jet lag or other causes, may be treated with medications but they should be used only a short time. Chronic insomnia occurs when worry over the inability to sleep, rather than the underlying problem, becomes the focus.
- Sleep apnea: A treatable medical problem in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. An estimated 5 percent to 15 percent of adults have sleep apnea.
- KRT |
