|
Issue Date: June 16-20, 2008
Sleep
How much sleep do you need? Does it change with age? Do women snore? Let's lay down the facts.
Dr. Meir Kryger, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut and the director of Sleep Medicine Research and Education at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Conn.
|
In 2005, the National Institutes of Health reported that up to a quarter of the U.S. population -- as many as 74 million people -- experience sleep disorders. We asked Dr. Meir Kryger, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation (sleepfoundation.org), to help dispel some of the most widespread myths that people believe about sleep.
Myth: It's OK to skimp on sleep to squeeze important things into our busy schedules.
Reality: We need to make sleep a priority, especially if we're not functioning well during the daytime. If you're dead tired because you have not slept at night, the solution isn't more coffee -- it's more sleep.
Myth: You don't need more than four hours of sleep a night.
Reality: The fact is, most people need somewhere between seven and nine hours to feel wide awake and alert during the day. Only a very small number of people can get away with less. If the average person sleeps only four hours a night, his performance on various tasks that require attention will become increasingly worse as his sleep debt accumulates, and he'll have trouble staying awake. The brain needs to rest for much more than four hours a night.
We don't entirely understand the purpose of sleep, but research shows that if you totally deprive animals of sleep, they'll die within weeks. We do know the amount of sleep we get has an impact on organ systems, the immune system and the development of obesity.
Myth: Getting older means not getting good sleep at night.
Reality: Age isn't the problem. If you're healthy, your sleep can be normal in your 70s, 80s and even 90s. We think one of the main factors that interferes with sleep as people age is the development of diseases that disrupt sleep. Lifestyle changes interfere with sleep, too. Older people often advance their body clocks by eating lunch and dinner earlier, going to bed earlier and waking up earlier than they did when they were younger.
Myth: Teenagers need the same amount of sleep that adults do.
Reality: Most teenagers need 91Ú2 to 10 hours of sleep a night. It's a myth that teens can go to bed at 1 or 2 a.m. and then be wide awake and alert at 7 or 7:30 a.m. for school. They actually become severely sleep-deprived and extremely sleepy. Teenagers need sleep to function optimally. What happens is that the same kids who are sleep-deprived during the school week then attempt to catch up on weekends by sleeping until 1 p.m. But that's not enough to catch up, and it's going to affect their thinking and grades.
Myth: Snoring is a nuisance, not a problem.
Reality: I'm sure you've seen cartoons that depict snoring as something to laugh at, but we now know that snoring can be a symptom of sleep apnea, which is associated with heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Snoring is not something to dismiss. If you have a snoring problem, then you should talk about it with your doctor, who should ask you questions about your sleep habits, whether you experience daytime sleepiness, and whether you have high blood pressure or any cardiovascular disease that would be a marker of increased risk.
Snoring also may make your bed partner's sleep horribly abnormal, and he or she can have all the symptoms of sleep deprivation even though the only snoring problem they have is yours! It's like secondhand smoke, but for snoring.
Myth: Women don't snore.
Reality: We used to think that women don't snore and that women don't get sleep apnea. But now we know there are millions of women in the United States who have sleep apnea, and most of them snore, too.
We're in the middle of an obesity epidemic, and the main association with snoring is obesity, so it's not surprising that women snore. Anyone who snores -- especially people who are overweight -- should speak with a physician.
Myth: Boredom makes people doze off.
Reality: If you fall asleep at the wrong time or in the wrong place, it's not because you're bored; it's because you're sleepy. Your boss may be the most boring speaker in the world, but his marathon report is not going to put you to sleep unless you're sleepy. And if you're sleepy, the reason is a problem with either the quantity or the quality of your sleep. Sometimes excessive sleepiness can be caused by medications. Talk to your doctor about your sleepiness and any medications you take that may make you drowsy.
Bottom Line: Understanding how much sleep you need is critically important. Most people function best when they get seven to nine consecutive hours of sleep at night, but there's no magic number of hours that fits everyone and covers individual variability. Each person has his own requirement for how much sleep he needs.
Go to top
Resource Corner
You'll find more from our expert partners at:
diabetes.org
americanheart.org
arthritis.org
sleepfoundation.org
mentalhealth.org
acg.gi.org
headaches.org
Plus, get more helpful content at usaweekend.com/health
|
