People think sleep is a waste of time,” says James P. Krainson, M.D., director of the South Florida Sleep Diagnostic Center in Miami. “But they don’t realize that sleep will make them more productive.” It will also help you improve your memory, shed postpregnancy pounds, and stave off obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Dozens of studies support the notion that sleep is just as important for maintaining good health as diet and exercise. For example, a study published in the journal Sleep found a relationship between short sleep and increased diabetes risk. Other studies found a lack of sleep can exacerbate pain, cause mood disturbances, and even increase the risk of gum disease.
Your wake-up call. If results from a 2007 Sleep in America poll are anything to go by, too many women are risking their health from lack of sleep. Conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NFS), last year’s poll revealed that 60 percent of American women get a good night’s sleep only a few nights per week or less. Apparently, when women are pressed for time—which, let’s face it, is every day—sleep is usually the first thing to go.
Take back the night. With health benefits that important, you can’t ignore those eight hours of shuteye any longer. To help you get back in bed and waking up well rested, we looked at four sleep ailments—and discovered some surprisingly effortless solutions.
THE PROBLEM: No time
Recent research at the University of Pennsylvania, published in 2007 in Sleep, says our work-driven culture keeps us from getting the rest we need. Among the findings: The more time we spend working and com- muting, the less time we spend in bed. Even when we know that get- ting more sleep will make us feel better, it usually isn’t enough to keep us from burning the candle at both ends, says Michael Breus, Ph.D., sleep expert and author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep (Plume, 2007). What’s required, Breus says, is a plan for making sleep a priority:
Set your clock for sleep. Set your alarm to go off an hour before you want to go to sleep. The alarm is your cue to start getting ready for bed.
Wind down for an hour. Take 20 minutes to shut down the house for the night and prepare for the next morning. Spend the next 20 minutes doing your usual evening ablutions like washing your face, brushing your teeth, and changing into your pj’s. For the final 20 minutes, relax and meditate in bed. That’s it. No work, reading, e-mails, phone calls, paying bills, or getting into a discussion with your partner about your health, finances, or relationship during your power-down hour, says Breus. “Avoid any activity that gets your mind revved up before you go to bed,” he advises.
Create a sleep sanctuary. “I’ve gone into bedrooms of people who say they can’t sleep, and they’ve got a computer in there, a TV, a huge pile of laundry on the floor,” says Breus. The question then becomes, according to Breus, not “Why can’t I sleep?” but “How could I sleep under these circumstances?” To transform your bedroom, Breus recommends moving the computer and the TV out of the room and clearing out the clutter. “You want to create an area that’s flowing and positive,” he writes in his book Beauty Sleep.THE PROBLEM: Insomnia
Insomnia—from the Latin word for “sleepless”—is the most common sleep disorder, characterized by diffi- culty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, or waking up too early in the morning. For a clinical diagnosis, the lack of sleep must impair your daytime functioning, says Gregg D. Jacobs, Ph.D., sleep specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center and founder of cbtforinsomnia.com.
“Almost half of all adults have insomnia once a week,” he adds. But only a fraction of sufferers seek treatment, in large part, Jacobs says, “because they’re afraid their doctor will prescribe sleeping pills, and there is a growing belief that pills are not a good choice.” Try these drug-free solutions instead:
Retrain your brain for sleep. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a common psychological technique used to help people change the way they think and act and thereby break certain self-destructive habits. In two major studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association and one study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, cognitive behavior therapy proved to be more effective than sleeping pills, says Jacobs. “And unlike pills, CBT has no side effects and works long term.” The CBT insomnia treatment program that Jacobs developed and tested at Harvard Medical School and UMass Medical Center (now online at cbtforinsomnia.com) involves five sessions over five weeks. It teaches insomniacs many techniques—like waking up at the same time every morning, including weekends; and when sleep doesn’t come within 30 minutes, getting up and doing something quiet and relaxing—that help people reform their sleep habits.
- Resources: Check with the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists Organization, nacbt.org, to find a practitioner.
- Buying guide: Try valerian root capsules at gaiaherbs.com.
- Dosage: Take 400 mg per day an hour before bedtime. “It may take three weeks to work,” says Wong.
- Caveat: Valerian shouldn’t be used for more than three months at a time, says Wong. “You may have heart palpitations, headaches, blurred vision, and nausea if it’s used over a long period of time,” she says.
- Buying guide: Look for Puritan’s Pride melatonin at puritan.com.
- Dosage: Take 0.3 mg per day about 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. “The recommendation on product bottles, 1 to 3 mg, is higher than many practitioners believe it should be,” says Wong. “There’s concern that too large a dosage could cause the body to reduce its own production of melatonin.”
- Buying guide: Try Aura Cacia lavender oil at health food stores or natural markets or at auracacia.com.
- Directions: “Put a few drops of lavender oil in a warm bath about an hour before bed,” suggests Wong. “A warm bath raises body temperature. When it falls after you get out, that drop causes you to feel drowsy.
Obstructive sleep apnea’s symptoms include loud snoring and gasps for breath, but it also interrupts sleep because it causes you to stop breathing for anywhere from ten to 30 sec- onds at a time. “The oxygen-deprived brain sounds an alarm—the arousal trigger—forcing you to wake up, jolting open the upper airway, and allowing the proper airflow to resume,” explains Carlos H. Schenck, M.D., in his book Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems, and the Solutions. More than 18 million Americans have sleep apnea, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Try a mask to breathe right. Obstructive sleep apnea needs to be diagnosed in a sleep lab. The most reliable treatment is a mask that fits over the nose and/or mouth called a “continuous positive airway pressure device,” or CPAP. It blows in pressurized air to keep the airway open.
- Caveat: Be sure to test a mask first to make sure it’s comfortable for you. Ask your doctor to suggest a make.
Snoring happens when you breathe in through your mouth and your soft palate or uvula vibrates against the back of your throat or the base of your tongue as you breathe in. Snoring is an indication that something is preventing you from breathing efficiently, says Krainson, and can lead to sleep disruption, headaches, and fatigue. It’s also associated with an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, even if you’re not overweight. Incorporate these tips to help stop snoring.
Lose weight. You’re more likely to snore if you’re overweight.
Stay off your back. Sleep on your side as much as possible.
Drink less. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the airway, making it more likely you’ll snore. Drink your last glass of wine or bottle of beer at least four hours before bedtime.
Copyright 2009  Natural Health
