Having Less Than Refreshing Sleep? Up Your Sleep Hygiene!

Nearly all humans need between 6-8.5 hours of daily renewing and restorative sleep, on average (see below links for reference). Many people suffer from dysomnia (commonly known as insomnia), which is the lack of restful sleep in either quantity or quality or both. Dysomnia is a common cause of numerous health conditions and challenges, such as depression, obesity, and chronic pain. When one’s sleep quality is enhanced, these conditions will often lessen or sometimes fully diminish.

Sleep hygiene is a clinical term used to describe a matrix of lifestyle choices, behavioral actions, diet, exercise, and attitudes that together generate regular, renewing sleep. Transforming one’s life into one in which a high level of sleep hygiene is practiced as a fundamental wellness method has both immediate and sustained health benefits.

A recent New York Times article delineates how good sleep hygiene can be practiced:

• Getting daytime exercise and light exposure.
• Avoiding daytime naps.
• Relaxing in the evening.
• Avoiding caffeine and nicotine.
• Not going to bed hungry, but avoiding large meals before sleep.
• Dimming the lights an hour before bed.
• Sleeping in a temperature of about 68 to 69 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Avoiding clock watching during the night.

Additional information on how to can transform poor quality sleeping into healthy,renewing, and even invigorating sleep may be found at the National Sleep Foundation, University of Maryland Medical Center’s Sleep Disorders Center, and at Helpguide.org’s Tips for Getting Better Sleep: How to Sleep Well Every Night.

As always, changing behaviors that are ingrained takes commitment, persistence, and an incremental approach: start with a small change and make it a regular part of your daily life, then add another.

Repeat until body-mind-spirit is shiney with bright wellness. @DoctorJames

Discovery of these health news reports spurred this digest for the week of 15 March 2010. Three items are reviewed and followed by suggested action plans to enhance one’s health.
@DoctorJames

Touch and Interaction are Essential

Feelings of loneliness increases blood pressure over time in those who are 50 years or older

SUGGESTED ACTIONS

• Ensure personal knowledge of one’s baseline blood pressure (BP)
• Seek appropriate treatment from a licensed health care professional for BP problems AND STICK TO IT
• Actively participate in groups: community, religious, gym, recreational, or affinity social groups
• Actively cultivate and nurture friendships
• Positively engage relatives and those who are surrogate family members
• Practice the 10 Easy Steps to Happiness that Really Work from the Slough, England year-old social experiment THAT WORKED

Preventive behaviors reduced H1N1 household transmission in 2009

SUGGESTED ACTIONS

• WASH YOUR HANDS – handwashing saves lives, resources, and elevates your health and wellness: HERE’S HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY


Handwashing is Vital to Good Health

• Unless medically disadvised, get the annual seasonal or other influenza vaccination
• Talk with your housemates about how to prevent the transmission of influenza
• Teach and persistently reinforce good handwashing and basic hygiene to all children
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow – not your hands

Local carbon dioxide domes reduce air quality

SUGGESTED ACTIONS

• Pay attention to local air quality ratings and alter your outside behaviors as recommended
• Minimize or avoid outdoor grilling or trash-burning
• Change your commute practices to enhance environmental qualities: biking, carsharing, use of public transit, or walking
• Recycle and reuse, compost, and pre-cycle so that packaging trash is minimized
• Act to better air quality by pushing local and regional initiatives to negate carbon output at the source