To Sleep: Perchance to dream (Week 2)
Are you getting a good nights sleep?
If you have read last weeks post, ‘Are you getting a good nights sleep’, (Week 1) you will know that I am working on restoring my ‘positive’ sleep patterns which have got somewhat misguided of late.Last week I monitored my sleep using the Sleep Cycle app. However I didn’t make any chances to my lifestyle so that I had a good weeks monitoring of my normal sleep behaviour. The results were interesting and varied i.e. each night appeared different on the monitor – see below:-
The plan this week (Week 2) is to apply the common ‘better sleep’ tips that you find in most sleep literature and information. Then I can compare the two weeks and see if my sleep pattern and quality has improved. Finally in the third week I will continue to apply the tips plus some self hypnosis! Once I have all three weeks of data I will compare and post my, hopefully successful, findings!
Common ‘Better Sleep’ Tips (I’ve amended slightly to suit me):-
- Cut out coffee and caffeine (I’ve opted for decaf but no coffee at all after 12.00 midday)
- No TV in bed
- Aim to read before sleep
- Am to be in bed by 10.00 pm
- Set the same wake time for each day – I’ll aim for 7.00 am
- No alcohol as this reduces the quality of sleep
- No sugar products/fruit before bedtime as sugar, even natural, is also a stimulant.
- No drinks to be consumed too close to bed-time to avoid breaking sleep with a bathroom visit.
- Ensure bedroom is darkened
- Ensure bedroom temperature is comfortable (not too hot/cold)
- No night-time visitors (my cat!) as they often wake and disturb
Now my rules are set, we’ll see if my sleep cycles change at all! If you are monitoring too, do make some changes from the list above and see what happens. If you need general more information there is quite a good ‘How to sleep better’ guide at www.helpguide.org.
I was also interested in how sleep deprivation can affect the production and regulations of our hormones and I was not surprised by what I discovered. Recent research by Cauter et al (2010) has the answer. They found that sleep loss can reduce the capacity to perform basic metabolic functions such as regulating hormone secretion, and in the long term could speed up the ageing process and hasten the potential onset of age-related ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss. They reported that cutting back on sleep is an extremely common response to the time pressures of modern societies. The average night’s sleep decreased from about nine hours in 1910 to about 7.5 hours in 1975, a trend that continues. Millions of shift workers average less than five hours per work day.
Their research focused on the physiologic effects of sleep loss, how sleep deprivation altered basic bodily functions such regulating blood-sugar levels, storing away energy from food and the production of various hormones.
When tested during the height of their sleep debt, subjects took 40 percent longer than normal to regulate their blood sugar levels following a high-carbohydrate meal. Their ability to secrete insulin and to respond to insulin both decreased by about 30 percent.
Sleep deprivation also altered the production and action of other hormones, dampening the secretion of thyroid stimulating hormone and increasing blood levels of cortisol, especially during the afternoon and evening.
So, it makes good healthy sense to ‘get some sleep’!
Night night…
Tags: fatigue, insomnia, sleep, tiredness
Thanks for this post Alison, very interesting and important information. And there I was burning the candle at both ends! xx