What is sleep hygiene?
“Sleep Hygiene” refers to the behavioural habits which we reinforce that help us to optimise the quality and quantity of our sleep.
Bad sleeping habits practised over many years will lead to common sleeping problems such as insomnia.
Why is it important to practice good sleep hygiene?
Sleep hygiene is important to practise as it promotes healthy sleep and daytime wakefulness. Good sleep is linked to many health benefits and a lack of it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, weight gain and diabetes.
How do we know when we need to sleep?
Within each of our brains, we have what is referred to as an internal clock which is controlled by the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) located in the hypothalamus. This alternates a sleep-wake cycle, which is known as a “circadian rhythm.”
It is a behavioural and physiological cycle that takes place over a 24 hour period. Our internal clock is synchronized with our bodily processes such as temperature, blood pressure and other brain states.
The main synchronizer of sleep is light transferred through the optic nerve to the SCN. The SCN sends messages to the brain to decide whether its day or night, these changes trigger alterations to our body temperature and sleepiness.
What can cause poor quality of sleep?
Working against your body clock can result is poor quality of sleep this means choosing not to sleep when you’re tired and ignoring your brains signals.
Consumption of alcohol, resorting to sleeping pills and the use of cigarettes can be mistaken as remedies to aid in the falling asleep process. These things do not make an individual more likely to sleep.
Alcohol has an immediate sleep-inducing effect, a few hours later as the alcohol levels in your bloo...
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...cise at least 4 hours before bed as exercise accelerates heart beat which increases blood pressure, this keeps you awake. The timing of the workout is important- exercise during the morning or early afternoon will not interfere with sleep. Although, relaxation techniques such as yoga can be done before bedtime.
Switch off all electronics (phones, music players, etc.) at least half an hour before bed and don’t expose yourself to bright light as it will give cues top your brain that it is time to wake up.
You can take a hot bath before bed time as it will raise your body temperature; it is the drop in body temperature after the bath that makes you feel sleepy.
Do not take your worries to bed; leave your worries about job, school, daily life, etc. Some people find it useful to assign a "worry period" during the evening or late afternoon to deal with these issues.
Start cleaning up. Wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, mop the bathroom floor, pickup toys from all around the house, and put a load of dirty clothes in the washing machine. Finish your homework, studying, and get yourself prepared for bed. Get a shower, brush your teeth, and collapse across the bed. Then jump back up, put the clothes in the dryer, set the coffee pot, and alarm clock. Get back into the bed and be asleep before your head lands on the pillow.
The body’s internal clock, commonly known as circadian rhythm, does not sync with the DST’s clock. This disconnect between the body’s clock and the DST’s clock can engender feelings of “restlessness, sleep disruption, and shorter sleep duration” (O’Connor).
Each of those plants often makes tea to drink before going to bed, but a lavender plant’s scent intermixes with soaps and other bathroom products. Acupuncture and hot baths can also treat insomnia and improve sleep by a great deal by relaxing the patient. Taking hot baths a couple hours before going to bed treats insomnia by raising the body temperature and resulting in a deeper sleep (Epstein).
The body and brain are changing machines, where states of consciousness shift with zealous nature to allow our human anatomy to flourish. Schedules of the circadian rhythm function differently for everyone yet, is an important part of functioning for the human anatomy/mind. For the average person, however, the cycles we go through usually speak for a sleep rotation. But sometimes, even with these measured rituals, we find ourselves at a loss when we realize how fragile our circadian rhythm can be, caused by "insomnia," " jet-lag, " or even "weekend-lag."
Although clock expression has been important to understand rhythm, the initial information from retinohypothalamic tract to core or ventro-lateral region of the SCN has been a prime focus of the recent studies. It is widely known that information from ventrolateral region of SCN communicates with other regions of the SCN. Buhr and Yoo (2010), show ventrolateral and dorsomedial neuronal connection exists and this connection has a role in circadian rythm. Their data shows that tetrodoxin can make SCN temperature incompensated due to inhibition of signal from core to shell regions. Similarly, vasoactive intestinal peptide and peptide histidine iso-leucine are expressed in SCN when light information travel from retinohypothalamic tract.
Tomas Izquierdo is what one might call someone without circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the daily sleep patterns of humans. Circadian rhythms tell people when they are most alert, when they feel tired, and when they should wake up. These circadian rhythms, while difficult to research, are important to many industries, as well as a multitude of sleep disorder patients. For several years, scientists and doctors have been seeking a greater understanding of these patterns through constant, difficult, and fast paced research. The applications of such knowledge would be quite beneficial in shift based industries as well as some special circumstances. As of yet, doctors have been able to determine a few important correlations between internal time cues and sleep, activities or events that give cues to the brain about what time it is or should be. However, the research is very difficult.
During the winter quarter of 2014, biology 155 students examined for one week circadian body rhythms during “normal” activity and rest periods. The students had to go to sleep between 10 and 12 o’clock, wake up around 6 and 8 in the morning and had to do usual activities for it to be considered a “normal” day in a week’s period. During a 24 hour period students had to interrupt their “normal” sleep period in order to collect some data. Every 2 hours, 12 times in total, three function tests were conducted in the same order and had to be written do...
Our bodies rely on two different things to let our bodies know when we need to be asleep. One is called the circadian rhythm, which is the physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a twenty four hour cycle, that revolves around the light and dark of the day. Basically, our bodies are like our own little clocks which are controlled by a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic
We live our entire life in two states, sleep and awake1. These two states are characterized by two distinct behaviors. For instance, the brain demonstrates a well-defined activity during non-REM sleep (nREM) that is different when we are awake. In the study of sleep by Huber et. al., the authors stated that sleep is in fact a global state2. It is unclear whether this statement means that sleep is a state of global behavioural inactivity or the state of the global nervous system. The notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system served as basis for sleep researchers to search for a sleep switch. The discovery of the sleep switch, in return, provided evidence and enhanced the notion that sleep is a global state of the nervous system. The switch hypothesis developed from the fact that sleep can be initiated without fatigue and it is reversible1. It was hypothesized that there is something in the brain that has the ability to control the whole brain and initiate sleep. Studies have found a good candidate that demonstrated this ability3. They found a group of neurons in the Ventrolateral Preoptic (VLPO) nucleus. It was a good candidate because it was active during sleep, has neuronal output that can influence the wakefulness pathway, and lesion in the area followed reduce sleep3. The idea that there is something that can control the whole brain and result sleep state supports the idea that sleep is a global state of the nervous system.
Sleeping is something that is an essential part of human nature and is a must in order for one to be a functional human being. Sleep is an idea that is accompanied by many wives’ tales, including the idea that one needs seven to eight hours of sleep each night and alcohol helps one fall asleep and sleep more soundly. One myth about sleep is that during sleep, one is in a state of nothingness. In truth, however, it has been discovered that during sleep the brain is active, variations in heartbeat and breathing occur, and the eyes and ears are active throughout the time of sleep. These activities during a person’s sleep are important because they help that person be more aware, awake, and alert during sleep.
On week days I tend to be in bed around 11:00pm and plan to be asleep by midnight. Falling asleep by midnight is usually accomplished on each weeknight, with an occasional late night study session. I am fortunate enough to be able to sleep later than I have been in past semesters. We have not had our usual 6:00am morning team lifting for crew and I do not have many early classes. It is not difficult for me to wake up once I hear my alarm in the morning. When I know I have something to complete or somewhere to be I am able to jump right out of bed and get ready. While filling out my Stanford Sleepiness rating times, I was able to give myself scores bet...
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.
The goal of sleep hygiene is to provide an outline of behaviors that promote sleep and behaviors that inhibit sleep. The behaviors that sleep hygiene recommends include being on a sleep schedule, going outside, having relaxing routines, exercising daily, and creating a comfortable sleep environment. The behaviors that sleep hygiene does not recommend are napping, using nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol, eating too much or too little, using electronics in bed, and lying in bed awake. Stimulus control supports many of these suggestions and emphasizes associating the bed with sleep using a classical conditioning approach. The main features of stimulus control involve limiting activities performed in bed, going to bed when tired, and making the environment comfortable and conducive to
In a majority of circadian rhythms there seems to be major components which include an endogenous component (which is regulated by an internal clock located in the hypothalamus) and an exogenous component. This exogenous component is made up of different clues in time in the world around us....
The next day you are probably going to sleep the whole day. You will feel like you have accomplished nothing during the day then you will be up all night messing up your sleep schedule. “Going without food also messes up being able to sleep”(Why Do We Sleep, Anyway?”). This indicates that you must eat a good meal before going to sleep. Going without food for a night will keep you if you are really hungry. “ One in eight of us keep our mobile phones switched on in our bedroom at night, increasing the risk our sleep will be disturbed”(Ghosh). Hearing your cell phone going off at night will often wake you up. There is also that urge to go look to see who it was