5 To Know
With Selep it's Quantity and Quality
This week the spotlight was on sleep as the American Association of Sleep Medicine met in Seattle. I want to talk about five important sleep facts that may surprise you.
1 We all need 7to 9 hours of sleep a night is ideal but less than a third get this much. As we age , we actually need more sleep because the refreshing REM and deep sleep periods become shorter
2 Not sleeping enough raises the risk of developing hypertension, depression, obesity and memory loss.among other things.Cortisol levels rise with too little sleep and fat is more liekly to develop around the abdomen when it does the most damage.
3 You can build up your sleep bank. If you haven;t been able to get enough sleep for a few nights it does help to make up for it with some extra hours when you you can get it in such as as on week-end.
4 To help you sleep Avoid caffeine for at least 8 hours. Make you bedroom quiet and dark. Wind down for at least a half hour before trying to sleep. Exercise early in the day. Studies show that warm milk and herbal sleep remedies don't work.
5 If you've been unable to sleep inspite of all your efforts, see your doctor. For significant problems with sleep therre can be help by consulting a board certified sleep specialist They can be found at
