10 Commandments For Better Sleep
Air, water, food -- and some would argue sex -- are key ingredients to human survival. In reality, there should be another "s" word in that list: sleep.
We're supposed to get between seven and 10 hours of sleep each night, depending on our age, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that a third of Americans sleep fewer than seven hours a night. It's a global problem too.
"Sleep problems constitute a global epidemic that threatens health and quality of life for up to 45% of the world's population," according to the World Sleep Society, a non-profit organization of sleep professionals dedicated to advancing "sleep health worldwide."
Yet how does anyone get to sleep today in the turmoil over the coronavirus pandemic? Workplaces and schools are shutting down, meaning hourly workers are without paychecks if they can't work and children used to free lunch are not getting fed -- never mind our concerns about elections, global stock market meltdowns or escalating border or trade wars.
It's a lot, folks, but failing to sleep isn't going to make things better.
Poor sleep contributes to weight gain, a lack of sex drive, a dysfunctional immune system, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's, depression, anxiety and other disorders.
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Yet despite this nuclear fallout for our health, we still don't prioritize sleep -- even when the stock market isn't crashing.
To combat that, sleep experts from the World Sleep Society have created these ten commandments of sleep hygiene for weary adults.
Establish a regular bedtime and waking time
Messing with our circadian rhythm, the internal sleep clock that tells us when it's time to sleep and rise, has been linked to hypertension, insulin resistance, diabetes and, most recently, the risk of having a heart attack or heart disease.
Changing your regular sleep-wake time by 90 minutes in either direction, which many of us do on the weekends, doubled the risk of cardiovascular disease over a five-year period. The more days you sleep irregularly, the higher the risk, a study found.
"People are living busy, stressful lives and not getting a lot of sleep during the week," Dr. David Goff, who directs the division of cardiovascular sciences at the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, told CNN in a recent interview.
"Then they are trying to get catchup sleep on the weekend, and that's not a healthy pattern," Goff said.
Watch your napping
While an occasional short snooze can be healthy, the World Sleep Society's second commandment warns: "If you are in the habit of taking siestas, do not exceed 45 minutes of daytime sleep."
One reason is because we typically enter a "deep sleep" cycle about 30 to 40 minutes into a nap. Waking up from deep sleep produces that "Where am I?" grogginess that is worse than no nap at all. A long nap can also interfere with your body clock, making it more difficult to fall asleep later that night.
Generally, catnaps that are approximately 15 to 20 minutes are fine, experts say, and may reduce fatigue; boost creativity; increase alertness; jumpstart cognitive performance; and improve mood. But try to do them earlier in the day -- before 3 p.m. -- to avoid affecting that night's full sleep cycle.
CNN Health
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