SNOOZE NEWS
stuff you can use
America, we have a problem...with sleep
sleep environment—once a physical exam has ruled out any underlying medical issues. Curtailing physical activity before bedtime, avoiding caffeine for the several hours and not going to bed either starved or stuffed are among the tips from the Better Sleep Council (www.bettersleep.org), along with sleeping in a cool room and making sure your mattress is still giving you good comfort and support. Specifically, the BSC recommends that a mattress and foundation be evaluated for replacement every 5-7 years.
Sleep Shorts
● American adults average 6.9 hours of sleep a night—less than the eight hours most sleep experts recommend. ● More than three-quarters of partnered adults say their partner has a sleep-related problem— the most common is snoring. ● One-quarter of American adults report that their sleep problems have some negative impact on their daily lives. While most adults don’t use any type of sleep aid, alcohol appears to be the popular choice—used by11% at least a few nights a month. Another 9% use over-the-counter sleep aids and 7% use prescription medications. Source: The National Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org.
Too little sleep accelerates aging
Research published in the journal Aging (November 2009) indicates that the consistent lack of a good night’s sleep can speed up the aging process. You may be able to tolerate less sleep when you are young without any immediately noticeable side effects, but that changes as you get older. Lack of sleep decreases your ability to handle stress, increases motor and neurological deterioration, and ultimately shortens your life. “This study suggests that young individuals may be able to handle certain stresses, but the same insults at an older age cause genetic damage and appear to lead to health problems and earlier death. And it’s linked to biological clocks,” said Natraj Krishnan, a research associate at Oregon State University. There are many ways to improve sleep habits—and the
Taking an afternoon nap may make you smarter You’ll probably get some resistance from your boss, but if you want to impress him with how smart you are, you might want to take an afternoon nap. While findings are preliminary, new research at the University of California Berkley suggests that a long midday snooze readies the brain to remember things and take in new information. Researchers divided 39 young adults into two groups. At noon, all of them took part in an exercise that required them to remember faces and link them with names. At 6:00 p.m., after 20 had taken a nap break for 90 minutes, they got a new set of learning tasks. Those who didn’t nap performed about 10% worse—which is par for the course for all of us who work through the day. But the nappers were able to negate that decline. “This is further evidence that sleep plays a critical role in the processing of memories,” said lead researcher Matthew Walker. “It provides more evidence that it’s not just important to sleep after learning, but you need it before learning to prepare the brain for laying down new information.”
Just for laughs
Groucho’s answer to insomnia
C
omedian Groucho Marx’s sleeping problems were triggered by the 1929 stock market crash, in which he lost a small fortune, according to a recent issue of The Week. The story goes that to avoid wee-hours boredom, he would call strangers on the phone and insult them, or come up with such classic jokes as this one: “Question: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic and a dyslexic? Answer: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.”
10 SleepSavvy • April 2010
www.sleepsavvymagazine.com