Category: Sleep

Some of the myths about sleep are dangerous to health.

The top myth about sleep is that it is possible to get by on just five hours a night, research reveals.

This myth is not just wrong, it is also dangerous to people’s health.

There are serious health risks from prolonged sleep deficits like this.

The second most common myth is that alcohol can help help you sleep.

In fact, alcohol impairs the brain’s ability to enter the vital phase of deep sleep.

It may feel like you are dropping off quicker, but the subsequent sleep is lighter and less refreshing.

The third myth is that snoring is harmless.

In fact, although it may be harmless, it may also be a sign of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is where breathing stops for brief periods during the night.

Dr Rebecca Robbins, the study’s first author, said:

“Sleep is a vital part of life that affects our productivity, mood, and general health and well-being.

Dispelling myths about sleep promotes healthier sleep habits which, in turn, promote overall better health.”

For the study, the researchers looked at over 8,000 websites to find the 20 most common assumptions about sleep.

Each one was rated by the scientists on whether it was supported by evidence, or was a myth.

Other myths about sleep that they correct included:

• TV in bed: TV can be stressful and is best avoided in the bedroom.
• Insomnia: When awake for more than 15 minutes or so, it is better to get out of bed. Don’t stay there and struggle or you will begin to associate it with insomnia.
• Naps: Even if you have difficulty sleeping at night, daytime naps should be avoided. Stick to regular bedtimes and get into a good routine.
• The snooze button: Forget about the snooze button, the extra few minutes won’t do you any good. It’s low quality sleep. Better to get up and out into the daylight.

Professor Girardin Jean Louis, study co-author, said:

“Sleep is important to health, and there needs to be greater effort to inform the public regarding this important public health issue.

For example, by discussing sleep habits with their patients, doctors can help prevent sleep myths from increasing risks for heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.”

The study was published in the journal Sleep Health (Robbins et al., 2019).

People feeling this emotion awakened more in the night.

Feeling lonely is linked to worse sleep, although people do not realise it, research finds.

People who feel lonely tend to wake more in the night, leading to less refreshing sleep.

To sleep well, people need to feel secure in their social environment.

Loneliness, unfortunately, makes people feel less safe, as we are a social species who rely on each other.

Dr  Lianne Kurina, the study’s first author, said:

“It’s not just a product of very lonely individuals having poor sleep.

The relationship between loneliness and restless sleep appears to operate across the range of perceived connectedness.”

The study included 95 people living in a small community in South Dakota.

None of the people in the study were socially isolated, although they felt differing levels of loneliness.

The results showed that people who were more lonely slept the same length of time, but had more fragmented sleep.

However, people did not realise they were sleeping worse themselves.

Objective measures of their movements during the night, though, revealed that people who felt more lonely were more restless.

Dr Kurina said:

“Loneliness has been associated with adverse effects on health.

We wanted to explore one potential pathway for this, the theory that sleep — a key behavior to staying healthy — could be compromised by feelings of loneliness.

What we found was that loneliness does not appear to change the total amount of sleep in individuals, but awakens them more times during the night.”

A previous study on college student found the same link between loneliness and worse sleep.

Dr Kurina said:

“Whether you’re a young student at a major university or an older adult living in a rural community, we may all be dependent on feeling secure in our social environment in order to sleep soundly.

The results from these studies could further our understanding of how social and psychological factors ‘get under the skin’ and affect health.”

The study was published in the journal Sleep (Kurina et al., 2011).

Why people spend less time asleep than they used to and have more trouble getting to sleep.

People are sleeping worse then ever, a new US survey has revealed.

Up to five million more Americans could be experiencing sleep problems than they were five years ago.

People also spend less time asleep than they used to.

These are the results of a study that looked at how sleep health is changing in the US.

Professor Zlatan Krizan, study co-author, said:

“Indeed, how long we sleep is important, but how well we sleep and how we feel about our sleep is important in its own right.

Sleep health is a multidimensional phenomenon, so examining all the aspects of sleep is crucial for future research.”

The study surveyed almost 165,000 people between 2013 and 2017.

Across the five years of the study, there was an increase in 1.43 percent in the number of people reporting difficulties falling asleep and an increase of 2.7 percent in those with problems remaining asleep.

The survey cannot reveal the reason for the increase, but Dr Garrett Hisler, the study’s first author, thinks it is partly down to technology:

“We know from our previous research there is a correlation between smartphone use and insufficient sleep among teens.

If we’re on our phone before bed or we’re receiving alerts in the middle of the night that can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.”

As a result, many are now advocating a form of ‘digital detox‘, involving reduced exposure to devices, especially before bedtime.

Spaced out

Poor sleep can increase the risk of many mental and physical illness, such as depression, anxiety and cardiovascular disease.

Professor Krizan said:

“We know that how well people sleep is generally very reflective of people’s health and may be an indicator of other conditions.

If we want a full picture of the population’s health, it’s important to measure and track these changes in sleep trends over time.”

Sleep deprivation disrupts communication between brain cells, a previous study has shown.

These disruptions can lead to temporary lapses in memory and even hallucinations.

This helps to explain why sleep deprivation leaves people feeling so spaced out.

The study was carried out on patients who had electrodes implanted in their brains prior to surgery for epilepsy.

The results showed that as they became more sleepy, the communication between their brain cells slowed down.

This caused a decrease in their reactions to cognitive tests.

How to improve sleep

Having a regular sleep schedule, bedtime routine and prioritising sleep, all help people sleep better, scientists have found.

The advice is based on recommendations by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Stimulus control therapy can also be beneficial.

The study was published in the journal Sleep Health (Hisler et al., 2019).