Popular medical opinion today comes down firmly on how important sleep is to basic life expectancy. It is today the professional opinion of the medical community that poor sleep quality is a better indicator of early death in a person than a smoking habit, or hypertension. But still, America today as a whole has somehow ended up cutting down on its sleep. The average night's sleep in the 1960s used to be in the region of eight hours a night. Today that number has slipped down to seven hours a night, and often only six, according to JAMA. According to studies, today’s employment requirements are responsible for this state of affairs; people who hold down a job have to travel farther and work longer today than ever before. A close second in the disruptive effects of modern life on our sleep, is the prevalence of passive entertainment like television.
Meddling with our sleep patterns is proven today to raise our hormone defenses and blunt our bodies' metabolism. The high rates in modern society of obesity, cardiac disorders, vascular disorders, depression and many others are today tracked to the presence of high levels of defensive stress hormones in our system. Snoring is considered to be a sleep disorder and it affects sleep quality in one in three people in relationships.
The problem is pretty clear by now; but what can be done to address this unhealthy state of affairs? Let us look at a few of the best and most effective ways doctors and psychologists know of today. While we are at it, we can also try to dismiss some of the most enduring myths that surround sleep disorders and insomnia.
Anti-allergic medications are available over-the-counter; these are some of the most abused medicines of all, for their prized sleep-inducing effects. But anti-allergic medications mostly only cause daytime sleepiness, and not nighttime sleep. A glass of wine may seem to be just the thing to get you relaxed enough to sleep; but alcohol has a delayed disruptive effect on sleep.
The right thing to do happens to be far simpler, without any of the ill effects that come with using chemicals. All we need to do is to make a few minor changes. Make sure that the place you sleep in is as conducive to sleep as possible. Remove all sources distraction from your sleep area: entertainment options, a selection of books and snacks, and others. Reserve your sleeping area for sleep or love, and little else. Try to calm yourself as you drift off every night, with a selection of quiet sleep music playing in the background. Make sure that do not have the energizing effect of caffeine in your system; try never to take tea or coffee within 12 hours of the time you plan to go to bed. Make sure finally, that your sleep troubles are not exacerbated by some kind of medicine that you happen to be taking. Ask your doctor for alternatives if you discover that your medicines happen to be insomnia-arousing.
Try to help your snoring; snoring not only keeps your bed mate up, it keeps you up too. Good exercise that helps reduce weight has a positive if invisible effect on snoring. Try to catch up with a little sleep every noon. Sleep begets sleep: a little afternoon nap tunes your body to expect more sleep at night. If you have trouble falling asleep once you are in bed, you may be tempted to sleep late to make up for it. Like most things to do with our health, sleep doesn't easily fit in into a description. Sometimes common sense measures apply, and sometimes they don't. If you learn to feel your way around how your mind handles rest and sleep though, you could come out with more sleep and a better quality of life.
Linus Orakles
www.authorclub.info
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