How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?
Humans, like all
animals, need sleep, along with food, water and oxygen, to survive. For humans
sleep is a vital indicator of overall health and well-being. We spend up to
one-third of our lives asleep, and the overall state of our “sleep health ”
remains an essential question throughout our lifespan.
Most of us know that
getting a good night’s sleep is important, but too few of us actually make
those eight or so hours between the sheets a priority. For many of us with sleep debt , we’ve forgotten what “being really, truly rested”
feels like.
To further complicate
matters, stimulants like coffee and energy drinks, alarm clocks, and external
lights—including those from electronic devices—interferes with our “circadian rhythm ” or natural sleep/wake cycle.
Sleep needs vary across ages and are especially impacted by
lifestyle and health. To determine how much sleep you need, it's important to
assess not only where you fall on the "sleep needs spectrum," but
also to examine what lifestyle factors are affecting the quality and quantity
of your sleep such as work schedules and stress.
Why Is Sleep Important?
Sleep plays a vital role
in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality
sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health,
quality of life, and safety.
The way you feel while you're awake depends in part on what
happens while you're sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support
healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. In children and
teens, sleep also helps support growth and development.
The damage from sleep
deficiency can occur in an instant (such as a car crash), or it can harm you
over time. For example, ongoing sleep deficiency can raise your risk for some
chronic health problems. It also can affect how well you think, react, work,
learn, and get along with others.
Healthy Brain Function and Emotional Well-Being
Sleep helps your brain work
properly. While you're sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It's
forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information.
Studies show that a good
night's sleep improves learning. Whether you're learning math, how to play the
piano, how to perfect your golf swing, or how to drive a car, sleep helps
enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. Sleep also helps you pay attention,
make decisions, and be creative.
If you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble making decisions,
solving problems, controlling your emotions and behavior, and coping with
change. Sleep deficiency also has been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking
behavior.
Children and teens who are
sleep deficient may have problems getting along with others. They may feel
angry and impulsive, have mood swings, feel sad or depressed, or lack
motivation. They also may have problems paying attention, and they may get
lower grades and feel stressed.
Physical Health
Sleep plays an important role
in your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair
of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an
increased risk of heart disease,
kidney disease, high blood pressure,
diabetes, andstroke.
Sleep deficiency also increases
the risk of obesity. For
example, one study of teenagers showed that with each hour of sleep lost, the
odds of becoming obese went up. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity
in other age groups as well.
Sleep helps maintain a healthy
balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin).
When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level
of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested.
Sleep also affects how your
body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose (sugar)
level. Sleep deficiency results in a higher than normal blood sugar level,
which may increase your risk for diabetes.
Sleep also supports healthy
growth and development. Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone
that promotes normal growth in children and teens. This hormone also boosts
muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues in children, teens, and adults.
Sleep also plays a role in puberty and fertility.
Your immune system relies on
sleep to stay healthy. This system defends your body against foreign or harmful
substances. Ongoing sleep deficiency can change the way in which your immune
system responds. For example, if you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble
fighting common infections.
Daytime Performance and Safety
Getting enough quality sleep at
the right times helps you function well throughout the day. People who are
sleep deficient are less productive at work and school. They take longer to
finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more mistakes.
After several nights of losing
sleep—even a loss of just 1–2 hours per night—your ability to function suffers
as if you haven't slept at all for a day or two.
Lack of sleep also may lead to
microsleep. Microsleep refers to brief moments of sleep that occur when you're
normally awake.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
·
Newborns (0-3 months ): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours each day (previously it was
12-18)
· Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12-15 hours (previously it was
14-15)
· Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened by one hour to 11-14 hours (previously it was
12-14)
· Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously it was
11-13)
· School age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours
(previously it was 10-11)
· Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was
8.5-9.5)
· Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
· Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours
· Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category)
Improve Your Sleep Today: Make Sleep a Priority
Try to keep the following
sleep practices on a consistent basis:
1. Stick
to the same bedtime and wake up time, even on the weekends.
This helps
to regulate your body's clock and could help you fall asleep and stay asleep
for the night.
2. Practice
a relaxing bedtime ritual.
A
relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright
lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause
excitement, stress or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep,
get sound and deep sleep or remain asleep.
3.
Avoid naps,
especially in the afternoon.
Power napping may help
you get through the day, but if you find that you can't fall asleep at bedtime,
eliminating even short catnaps may help.
4.
Exercise daily.
Vigorous exercise is
best, but even light exercise is better than no activity. Exercise at any time
of day, but not at the expense of your sleep.
5. Evaluate
your room.
Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep. Your
bedroom should be cool – between 60 and 67 degrees. Your bedroom should
also be free from any noise that can disturb your sleep. Finally, your bedroom
should be free from any light. Check your room for noises or other
distractions. This includes a bed partner's sleep disruptions such as snoring.
Consider using blackout curtains, eye shades, ear plugs, "white
noise" machines, humidifiers, fans and other devices.
6. Sleep
on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
Make sure
your mattress is comfortable and supportive. The one you have been using for
years may have exceeded its life expectancy – about 9 or 10 years for most good
quality mattresses. Have comfortable pillows and make the room attractive and
inviting for sleep but also free of allergens that might affect you and objects
that might cause you to slip or fall if you have to get up during the night.
7.
Use bright light to help manage your circadian rhythms.
Avoid
bright light in the evening and expose yourself to sunlight in the morning.
This will keep your circadian rhythms in check.
8. Avoid
alcohol, cigarettes, and heavy meals in the evening.
Alcohol,
cigarettes and caffeine can
disrupt sleep. Eating big or spicy meals can cause discomfort from indigestion
that can make it hard to sleep. It is good to finish eating at least 2-3 hours
before bedtime.
9. Wind
down. Your body needs time to shift into sleep mode, so spend the last hour
before bed doing a calming activity such as reading.
For some
people, using an electronic device such as a laptop can make it hard to fall
asleep, because the particular type of light emanating from the screens of
these devices is activating to the brain. If you have trouble sleeping, avoid
electronics before bed or in the middle of the night.
10. If you
can't sleep, go into another room and do something relaxing until you feel
tired.
It is best
to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping
environment. Use your bed only for sleep and sex to strengthen the association
between bed and sleep. If you associate a particular activity or item with
anxiety about sleeping, omit it from your bedtime routine.
If you’re still having trouble sleeping, don’t hesitate to speak
with your doctor or to find a sleep professional. You may also benefit from recording your
sleep in a Sleep Diary to help you better evaluate common patterns or issues you may see
with your sleep or sleeping habits.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Problem Sleepiness?
Sleep
deficiency can cause you to feel very tired during the day. You may not feel
refreshed and alert when you wake up. Sleep deficiency also can interfere with
work, school, driving, and social functioning.
How sleepy you feel during the day can help you figure out whether
you're having symptoms of problem sleepiness. You might be sleep deficient if
you often feel like you could doze off while:
- · Sitting and reading or watching TV
- · Sitting still in a public place, such as a movie theater, meeting, or classroom
- · Riding in a car for an hour without stopping
- · Sitting and talking to someone
- · Sitting quietly after lunch
- · Sitting in traffic for a few minutes
Sleep deficiency can cause problems with learning, focusing, and
reacting. You may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, remembering
things, controlling your emotions and behavior, and coping with change. You may
take longer to finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more
mistakes.
The signs and symptoms of sleep deficiency may differ between
children and adults. Children who are sleep deficient might be overly active
and have problems paying attention. They also might misbehave, and their school
performance can suffer.
Sleep-deficient children may feel angry and impulsive, have mood
swings, feel sad or depressed, or lack motivation.
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