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How to get a good night’s sleep S
leep plays a key role in keeping us healthy. Sleeping well can directly affect mental and physical health. Inadequate sleep can take a serious toll on your energy, productivity, memory and even your weight. Studies linked insufficient sleep to an increased risk of obesity, with some concluding that getting less than 7–8 hours per night may increases your risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. We tend to focus on how long we’re asleep, but sleep quality is just as important. During the night, we cycle through four stages of sleep. Stage one and stage two sleep are considered light sleep, as our bodies prepare to enter a deeper slumber. Stage three sleep is known as slow-wave sleep, when the body carries out repairs and growth. Finally, stage four or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is when we dream. It typically takes about 90 minutes to cycle through all four stages of sleep, with time spent in REM sleep increasing as the night goes on. To wake up feeling wellrested, we must get enough of both slow-wave and REM sleep. We feel most refreshed when we wake up during the light sleep stages. By contrast, waking up during slow-wave sleep can cause
10 | The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, March 2021
feelings of fatigue and waking up from a vivid dream during REM sleep may be disorienting. During the later stages of the cycle our memories are consolidated, and information is processed. This means that disturbances to our sleep or having to get up in the night to go to the loo, can interrupt the cycle and one might not reach the later stages. Sleep is regulated by our circadian rhythm, an internal “body clock” affecting brain, body, and hormones, that tells us when to feel sleepy and when to feel alert. Our sleep needs and patterns change as we age, and individual needs can vary depending on several additional factors. Some people may have a circadian rhythm that is at odds with accepted conditions. For example, shift workers with a constantly changing schedule may find it difficult to keep a consistent bedtime, and their sleep may suffer as a result. Teenagers are programmed to wake up and go to sleep later, which is at odds with an early school start time. Obviously, some people are programmed to wake up earlier than others and perhaps jobs that require early wake times may cause problems for those considered “night owls”. Emerging