Sleep!

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fabindia
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Sleep!

Post by fabindia »

I have never had any problems with sleeping myself but I recently read a new book 'Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams', by Matthew Walker. It is both revealing and fascinating.

Some of the points I got from the book are:

* All animals sleep. It is part of our biology built round a biological clock

* Sleep is ESSENTIAL to good health. It is not an inconvenience

* We ALL need 8 to 9 hours sleep per night. People who say they get by on less than 7 hours are just deceiving themselves

* Sleep deprivation causes at least as many road accidents as drink/drug driving. Stay out to 2:00 am (assuming your normal bedtime is 11:00 pm) with no drinking of alcohol and your level of alertness is as bad as if you are over the drinking drive limit. This isn't a case of falling asleep at the wheel but rather people start missing critical clues even though they are awake.

* Sleeping pills are bad. It would appear although they may get you to sleep, the type and quality of sleep is poor.

* Likewise, with alcohol, it may make you sleepy but in brain terms it has a sedative effect and the resulting quality of sleep is poor.

The author does suggest ways that insomniacs can be helped without dr-ugs, total darkness, no screen time before bad, and consulting specialist sleep therapists.

All in all, a very interesting and enlightening read.
Michael
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albertajune
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Re: Sleep!

Post by albertajune »

Wish I could get a good nights sleep. I always wake up a couple of times and then often can't go back to sleep again.
Trouble is I then nod off throughout the day if I sit for any length of time. Arthritis doesn't help but books don't take this sort of thing into consideration.
I am now a widow and live with my memories.
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wendy
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Re: Sleep!

Post by wendy »

Ah merciful sleep.....
I go to bed and within minutes I am asleep.
Hardly ever get up to go to the loo.
Arthur got me up last night at 4.35 to go outside >coc<
But straight back to sleep
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p.penn
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Re: Sleep!

Post by p.penn »

I dint sleep soundly any more, but it doesn’t bother me. I just lie there and daydream!
Helen xx

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Gwenoakes
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Gwenoakes »

I have never been able to sleep straight through the night, usually get up at least 2 if not 3 times for a tiddle. The doctor told me years ago that I had a small bladder.
What do you daydream about p.penn?
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Spreckly
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Spreckly »

My bladder wakes me up during the night. I normally go straight to sleep when I go to bed, but wake soon afterwards, and then listen to the clock chiming. Sometimes I have heard it strike three before I nod off, and it is always the night before we have to get up early.

I too nod off in the afternoon, and the evening, must be our age.

Sweet dreams.
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Mo
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Mo »

Yes, the night before a busy day is often the night when I find myself awake longest. Mind active I suppose.
I've been away for the week, very busy days lots of things I wanted to do. Some of the nights it felt as if I hardly slept at all - duvet too heavy, light outside the window, etc etc. Other nights fell into bed and only woke with the alarm. A few naps in the concerts, with the tunes drifting through the dreams - I'm sure I heard every note though.
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fabindia
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Re: Sleep!

Post by fabindia »

Went to bed at 11:00 pm last night didn't wake till 10:00 am this morning - getting over jet lag I guess :-)
Michael
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albertajune
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Re: Sleep!

Post by albertajune »

fabindia wrote:Went to bed at 11:00 pm last night didn't wake till 10:00 am this morning - getting over jet lag I guess :-)

I hope you aren't trying to make us jealous Michael. If you are, it worked )de:
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Freeranger
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Freeranger »

I was recently sent to the sleep clinic and diagnosed with a sleep disorder that has needed a CPAP machine. I am really struggling to get used to it, but I suppose it takes a long time to break ingrained habits. Some nights are better than others, and the wide awake feeling next day is noticeably different - much greater clarity, and like looking at the world through new eyes. I look forward to more of it!
fabindia
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Re: Sleep!

Post by fabindia »

Freeranger wrote:I was recently sent to the sleep clinic and diagnosed with a sleep disorder that has needed a CPAP machine.


Glad to hear you seem to have gotten really good professional help. I am more convinced than ever that good sleep is so important to our general health.

Until a century or or so ago, us humans would have gone to bed when it got dark and then woke up round about sun rise. Today, with TV and other distractions we have sort of shifted our sleep habit, such as we now go to bed several hours after it gets dark and try to sleep the first few hours of increasing light. For example here in Thailand it gets dark at 6:30 to 7:00 in the evening and starts getting light at 5:30 in the morning but we don't go to bed until 10:30/11:00. So, Wendy and I have started to use one of those sleep eye masks and I find it really makes a difference to that last hour or so of sleep. I still get good sleep rather than that sort of early morning doze.
Michael
Freeranger
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Freeranger »

Something that's often quoted is a link between sleep quality and heart health, but that's never really explained and it's not clear whether that's correlation or causality. Does the book talk about that at all? I'd be interested to find out.
fabindia
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Re: Sleep!

Post by fabindia »

Freeranger wrote:Does the book talk about that at all?


There is a section "Sleep Loss and the Cardiovascular System". To quote:

"As we approach midlife, and our body begins to deteriorate and health resilience starts its decline, the impact of insufficient sleep on the cardiovascular system escalates. Adults forty five years or older who sleep fewer than 6 hours a night are 200 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke during their lifetime, as compared with those sleeping seven to eight hours a night."

The connection has to do with blood pressure and heart rate.

I have to take medication for high blood pressure, which is just one of those things as I am not overweight, don't smoke and exercise every day. This morning my medication regulated bloop pressure is 117/80 and my smart watch tells me I slept for 8 hours 40 minutes last night (I must have been really tired as I normally average 8 hours) and my average resting heart rate is 54 bpm with a low of 48.
Michael
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Re: Sleep!

Post by Freeranger »

48-53? Isn't that a little low? Thanks for the extra info - will look into that.
fabindia
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Re: Sleep!

Post by fabindia »

Freeranger wrote:48-53? Isn't that a little low?


Not really. I still run every day (aerobic exercise) and that helps keep my resting heart rate down. Sir Steve Redgrave (Olympic rower) had a resting heart rate round about 30 BPM.

With super athletes (which I have never been!) there can be a problem if they suddenly stop training. Many road racing cyclists ended up having to have heart pacemakers fitted a few years after they retired. I believe Sir Steve had a couple of years 'down-training' when he retired, to give his heart, which was the size of an ox's, chance to settle down to a more normal way of life.
Michael
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