Issue Date: March 19, 2006
Sleep soundly
If you have trouble getting shut-eye, there are ways to improve your sleep and feel rejuvenated without risking your health.
In our fast-paced society, the risk of developing stress-related problems is high. When you use the word "stress," most people assume you're talking about negative emotional effects, but stress presents itself in many other ways: high blood pressure, headaches, sexual problems and intestinal trouble. For others, stress means losing sleep.
In fact, one of the most significant conditions associated with chronic stress is insomnia. Simply put, this means a person just can't sleep well.
Whether the difficulty is getting to sleep or remaining asleep, it's a common problem; almost all of us have insomnia from time to time. According to a 2001 poll by the National Sleep Foundation, nearly seven out of 10 Americans said they experience frequent sleep problems, although most of them have not been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder.
The wrong way to decompress
Different people have different ways of unwinding at night. One common practice is to have a few drinks. After a hard day's work, some choose to relax with a few cold beers, wine or a cocktail or two. The rationale: Drinking is a way to decompress after a stressful day, which, in turn, should help you sleep, right? Wrong.
When it comes to sleep, alcohol is a funny thing. Alcohol certainly may have a calming effect at bedtime, but don't count on it to help you sleep through the night. Research has shown that alcohol disrupts the normal sleep pattern, particularly later in the night, and leads to diminished energy and fatigue the next day. Also, those who regularly drink alcohol before bedtime find that its ability to make them sleepy decreases over time.
Your brain is busy all night
Sleep is your body's way of recharging its batteries. Consider it nature's way of allowing your system to recover from the day's grind and prepare you for the next day's challenges. Although most folks think of sleep as a very inactive state, quite the opposite is true. As you sleep, your brain goes through cycles, called stages, progressing from very light sleep to deep sleep. Four of these stages occur before the onset of what is called rapid eye movement sleep. During this REM phase, we dream. Here's what happens: You start sleeping very lightly and systematically progress through the various stages of non-REM sleep, moving from Stage 1 to Stage 4 (see "The sleep cycle"). At this point you enter the REM phase of sleep, which can last from several minutes to an hour, getting longer with each subsequent cycle. Afterward, the cycle repeats.
Don't disturb the cycle
Alcohol tends to disrupt this very coordinated cycle of stages. According to the National Institutes of Health, drinking alcohol within an hour of bedtime can disrupt the second half of the sleep period. During this fitful period, you can wake up and then have difficulty falling back asleep. As a result, your body doesn't get the rejuvenation it needs.
Insomnia significantly upsets many people's lives. Don't make the mistake of adopting unhealthful behaviors to try to combat the problem. Instead, focus on tactics that improve your sleep without compromising your health (see "How to get a better night's rest").
Contributing Editor Tedd Mitchell, M.D., is medical director of the Wellness Program at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas.
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The sleep cycle
Stage 1: Lightest sleep. Can be awakened easily.
Stage 2: Light sleep. Body temperature decreases.
Stages 3 and 4: Deep sleep. Known as slow-wave or delta sleep, it's characterized by rhythmic breathing. Stage 4 is more intense than Stage 3.
Stage 5: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Intense dreaming occurs from heightened brain activity, but this is a lighter sleep than Stages 3 and 4.
A person may go through five sleep cycles in a typical night. The cycles recur in sequence, with the first one usually lasting about 100 minutes.
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How to get a better night's rest
Exercise regularly, but not just before bedtime.
Go to bed at the same time every night, and avoid taking long naps during the day.
Finish up any work-related tasks early in the evening so you don't take stress to bed with you.
Don't eat for a couple of hours before bedtime.
Make sure your bedroom is conducive to a good night's sleep. Keep it dark, quiet and cool. Large pets need to stay off the bed.
Don't toss and turn. If you wake up in the middle of the night, get out of bed and go to a relaxing area where you can read until you become sleepy. Then, head back to bed.
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