Sleep.

There is almost no consultation that I do where I do not ask about sleep.   And helping patients – individuals or as couples or, more often, as families – improve sleep is part of what lifestyle medicine doctors do.

Let’s just pick 5 things to know about sleep and 5 thing that might help you get better sleep:

What I want patients to know: 

1. Sleep is not a waste of time.  It’s really important.  Your body and brain are doing some important stuff while you are asleep!

2. Lack of sleep isn’t just tired. Not getting enough sleep over time can affect memory and mood.  It can cause you to make more mistakes or feel more anxious.  It can also cause physical problems like headaches or disruption to stomach/bowels.

3. Sleep is the time when your body does some important housekeeping processes.  If sleep is impaired, it can affect weight, cholesterol, blood sugars, and blood pressure.

4. Some of the good stuff that happens while you are asleep lowers blood pressure, increases insulin sensitivity, improves anxiety, enhanced learning and memory, better cardiovascular stamina and recovery, better decision making, and better mood.

5. Fixing your sleep is worth it: You will spend 1/3 of your life asleep.  No one can go to sleep for you and there is no medication that can make you get good sleep.

Getting Good Sleep?  

2. Make time for sleep. How much sleep?  It varies throughout our life! For the following ranges, you can add or subtract one hour for some individuals.

   1. Newborns 14-17 hours

   2. Infant: 12-15 hours

   3. Toddler 11-14 hours

   4. Preschool 10-13 hours

   5. School age 9-11 hours

   6. Teen 8-10 (11 hours not uncommon!)

   7. Young adult (under 25) 7-9 (11 hours not uncommon!)

   8. Adult 7-9 hours

   9. 0ver 65 7-8  (though range may be 5-9 hours in this age group)

3. Mythbusting: You can’t “catch up” on sleep over the weekend.  Don’t use a strategy of catching up to make up for the week.

4. Routine is key to effective self-management strategies. Try these consistently over next 2 weeks to start to see a difference – (sleep routines aren’t just for kids!)

   • Set a bedtime, set a wake time.

   • Eat breakfast soon after your wake time and include carbs! Open those blinds or step outside to get early morning light. Don’t check your phone first thing when waking.

   • Trouble falling asleep? Eat dinner earlier and avoid evening snacking

   • Reduce caffeine 3 hours before bedtime and eliminate alcohol

   • Increase physical activity should be morning or late afternoon, not evening

   • Avoid naps in adults; power naps to around 20 minutes

   • Bedtime routine: warm bath, reduced lights, quiet relaxing activity. The wind-down before bed may take 1 hour

4. Sleep hygiene: Cool, dark, quiet bed only used for sleep.  Get the TV, tablets, and phone out of the bedroom (that blue light filter thing?  Doesn’t really work.)

5. Having trouble more than just occasionally? Talk to your doctor – and not about sleeping tablets.  There are medical problems that can affect sleeping including: pain, restless legs syndrome, stress/anxiety, frequently waking to urinate, night sweats, medication side effects. It is estimated that as many as 80% of patients with sleep apnoea are undiagnosed!