Getting Better Sleep
The older I get, the more I appreciate a good night’s sleep, and the more elusive that has become. For this week's One Good Thing, I connected with our own sleep expert Dr. Aric Prather to learn more.
Among Corona Virus concerns, sleep’s impact on our immune response offers one of many compelling reasons to tend to our sleep. Dr. Prather
demonstrated
that healthy individuals sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night were 4 times more likely to develop a cold when experimentally inoculated with the common cold virus than those with at least 7 hours. Further
evidence
shows that sleep loss is associated with impaired antibody response to vaccinations.
Beyond impaired immunity, insufficient sleep impacts memory and cognition and increases the risk for mental health problems, like depression and anxiety disorders, and physical health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders. With daylight savings starting this weekend, it’s also worth noting that this annual loss of 1 hour of sleep is associated with
increased fatal motor vehicle accidents
.
What Can We Do?
Dogs, babies and night shifts aside, there are some important ways we can set ourselves up for better sleep.
- Although research is ongoing, the consensus based on available data indicates that adults need at least 7 hours per night to maintain optimal health; 7-9 hours is optimal.
- Wind down and unplug 1-2 hours prior to bed. Consider listening to soothing music, meditation, or indulging in a good book prior to bed.
- Avoid alcohol late in the evening.
- Keep a stable wake time 7 days per week. This will help stabilize your circadian rhythm which is critical for regular, restful sleep.
- Make your bed a temple for sleep; resist doing non sleeping activities in bed ("Sleep and sex only.")
- If you’re unable to sleep, don’t toss and turn in bed. If awake for more than 20 minutes, consider getting up and going somewhere to relax until you feel sleepy again.
- Keep your bedroom dark and cool. (A temperature of 65 F is suggested as optimal.)
- Don’t drink caffeine later than noon, and consider how much you are drinking in the morning. (The half-life of caffeine is 6 hours, which means that ¼ of the pot of coffee I drink at 6 AM is still circulating at 6PM!)
Additional Resources
- Check out this TED talk for a review of the evidence about sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD
- In this WIRED episode, Dr. Prather is challenged to describe sleep at 5 levels of complexity
- Check out Dr. Prather’s additional tips for adjusting to daylight savings time
Thanks to Aric Prather for your expertise and contributions to this One Good Thing!
