Trouble sleeping?
If, so read below for some tips to improve your sleep
The science behind sleep
Our sleep consists of two basic states, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movment (NREM) sleep, which consists of stages 1 to 4. During sleep, the body changes between non-REM and REM sleep. Typically, people begin the sleep cycle with a period of non-REM sleep followed by a short period of REM sleep. Throughout the course of the night we experience numerous cycles of these states of sleep. Most dreaming occurs in the REM stage, REM is charactized by eye, increased breathing rate and increased brain activity. REM sleep is also referred to as paradoxical sleep because, while the brain and other body systems become more active, your muscles become more relaxed, or paralyzed. Dreaming occurs because of increased brain activity, but voluntary muscles become paralyzed. Voluntary muscles are those that you need to move by choice, for example, your arms and legs. Involuntary muscles are those that include your heart and gut. They move on their own.
How long on average it takes someone to fall asleep?
The average sleep latency (the time is takes you to fall asleep) is somewhere between 15-20 mins. If you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow you might not be getting enough sleep. Or if you takes an hour or more to fall asleep, you might be trying to sleep too much.
What affects our sleep ?
There are many factors that can affect our sleep, below are some examples
Light
Light is one of the most important external factors that can affect our sleep. It does both directly and indirectly, directly by making it hard for people to fall asleep, indirectly by adjusting and changing our body clock thereby affecting our preferred time to sleep.
Medication and Other Substances
Many commen chemicals affect both the quantity and quality of our sleep.These include caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and antihistamines, as well as prescription medications and antidepressants. These can affect our sleep by, causing our REM sleep to decrease which causes daytime sleepiness. Some antidepressants can affect our total sleep, and has been found to promote insominia in some people.
Our Sleeping Environment
Several variables combine to make up the sleep environment, including light, noise, and temperature. We’ve already noted that too much light at night can shift our internal clock and makes restful sleep difficult to achieve. To minimize this effect, nightlights in hallways and bathrooms can be used. As for noise, although background sounds may relax some people, the volume level must be low. Research shows that the ideal temperature range for sleeping varies widely among individuals, so much so that there is no prescribed best room temperature to produce optimal sleep patterns. People simply sleep best at the temperature that feels most comfortable.
How to improve our sleep
There are many things we can do to improve our sleep this includes:
During the day:
- Participate in Physical Exercise
- Eat a balanced diet
- Curb your caffeine intake
- Avoid alcohol
- Store your sleep (avoid daytime naps, unless you are a really tired, take a 10-15 mins break)
During the Evening
- Invest in a good quality bed
- Turn out the lights
- Optimum Temperature
- Let the room breathe
- Minimal noise
During the night
Before you go to sleep, relax so you'll be able to fall asleep faster, and have a more restful sleep.
Biblography
() The Science of Sleep, Available at: http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/how/external-factors (Accessed: 20th November 2013).
Dr. Winter, C () Stop Trying to get Eight Hours of Sleep, Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-christopher-winter/sleep_b_2084339.html (Accessed: 17th November 2013).
() The Effects Medications has on Sleep, Available at: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/the-effects-of-medications-on-sleep-quality-and-sleep-architecture (Accessed: 17th November 2013).
() How to Improve your Sleep, Available at: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/the-effects-of-medications-on-sleep-quality-and-sleep-architecture (Accessed: 24th November 2013).
() Stages of Sleep REM and Non-REM, Available at: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/sleep-101 (Accessed: 3rd October 2013).
() Stages of Sleep, Available at: http://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-sleep/0002073 (Accessed: 3rd October 2013).
() How Much Sleep Do You Need, Available at: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm (Accessed: 22nd November 2013).