National Sleep Week is coming, March 13-19, and it coincides with the start of Daylight Saving Time on the 13th! That’s the one where you spring forward and turn your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night. The good news is that the days will start staying lighter later; the bad news is that we lose an hour of sleep.
If you’re one of those people whose sleep cycle is disturbed by the time change or if you don’t sleep well in general, you’re not alone. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep estimate that 60 million Americans suffer from poor sleep quality.
Natural sleep/wake cycles are what’s called our circadian rhythm (not to be confused with the Cicada which can sleep for as long as 17 years). Circadian rhythms are controlled by the biological clocks located in our brains which, in turn, respond to light cues. They increase production of melatonin at night and turn it down when the body begins to sense light. Researchers have also discovered something called “sleep drive,” that’s akin to hunger. Like hunger, your body’s need for sleep builds throughout the day. The difference is that, up to a point, you can keep telling yourself to eat later; but with sleep, your body will actually put you to sleep, even if you’re at work or behind the wheel of a car. Your body can even make you take a micro-nap of a few seconds while your eyes are open.
While we sleep, the brain is busy performing a number of life-affirming activities like improving the brain’s ability to adapt to input and remembering it in the future. And too little sleep can lead to increased symptoms of depression, seizures, high blood pressure, prediabetes and migraines.
According to the Sleep Foundation, adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep (children need more to help with their development and activity levels). These recommendations were created by a panel of experts who, over a period of nine months, reviewed hundreds of sleep studies. Their findings have been verified by other organizations and research done in other countries.
Sleep quality is just as important as sleep quantity. If your sleep is disturbed by things like chronic snoring, difficulty breathing, leg cramps or tingling, chronic insomnia or other problems, contact your primary care provider. There are sleep clinics, labs and experts throughout Idaho. They can help you start getting some good Zzzzzz’s.