Time for a Quotation:

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one" - Leo J. Burke (Reverend and Teacher, 1911-1980)

8 Factors That Could Be Keeping You Awake At Night

This is an interesting list which may help in finding a reason for your sleep problems.  The factors are: pain, mental illness and stress, snoring, jet lag (yes this can cause chronic insomnia), shift work, hormonal changes, medical illnesses, drugs.  Each of these is explained in more detail here when you click on each of the links:
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20306729,00.html

Sleep Music?

As I have written in my first post, dated 22nd September, I'm not really a big fan of music to help me relax (I prefer soothing speech) but it works for many as found by the hotel chain, Travelodge.  They conducted a recent survey and found that 84% of people listen to music as a way to relax at bedtime and top of the list is Coldplay, followed by Michael Buble.  Who'd have thought also that Radiohead would equate to relaxing music but it's apparently so!  Check out the article and list - you may end up listenening to something you wouldn't normally choose BUT it may be the best thing you ever did!
Coldplay Top for Sleep Music

Does Chronic Heartburn Affect Your Sleep?

There's a good recent tip in the New York Times which says that sleeping on your left side calms heartburn. Read it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/health/26really.html?_r=1 

Secrets of Sound Sleep

Secrets of Sound Sleep

The Daily Express in the UK has an article this month suggesting some aids to help sleeping. These are more about comfort than anything else but I DO like the idea of the wrist-watch which determines your “most awake” moments at the end of a sleep cycle which is the best time for you to wake up feeling less groggy. It seems that you set an alarm “window” and it finds the best time to wake you.  Check all their recommendations:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/211724/Secrets-of-sound-sleep

Need Sleep? Too Much Sleep Can Kill You!

Something positive for a pleasant change - the secret to longevity means getting just enough sleep!

A new study, derived from novel sleep research conducted by University of California, San Diego researchers 14 years earlier, suggests that the secret to a long life may come with just enough sleep. Less than five hours a night is probably not enough; eight hours is probably too much. These findings will help dismiss the perception that we need sleep lasting 8 or more hours.

A team of scientists, headed by Daniel F. Kripke, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, revisited original research conducted between 1995 and 1999. In that earlier study, part of the Women’s Health Initiative, Kripke and colleagues had monitored 459 women living in San Diego (ranging in age from 50 to 81) to determine if sleep duration could be associated with mortality. Fourteen years later, they returned to see who was still alive and well.

Of the original participants, 444 were located and evaluated. Eighty-six women had died. Previous studies, based upon questionnaires of people’s sleep habits, had posited that sleeping 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night was associated with best survival. Kripke and colleagues, whose 1990s research had used wrist activity monitors to record sleep durations, essentially confirmed those findings, but with a twist. 

“The surprise was that when sleep was measured objectively, the best survival was observed among women who slept 5 to 6.5 hours,” Kripke said. “Women who slept less than five hours a night or more than 6.5 hours were less likely to be alive at the 14-year follow-up.”

The findings were released at the end of September 2010.

Kripke said the study should allay some people’s fears that they’re not getting enough sleep. “This means that women who sleep as little as five to six-and-a-half hours have nothing to worry about since that amount of sleep is evidently consistent with excellent survival. That is actually about the average measured sleep duration for San Diego women.”

We should remember too that Madonna, Margaret Thatcher (ex British Prime Minister) and Florence Nightingale are among those who have survived on four hours a night!

So, good news for those who need help sleeping – your most healthy sleep amount may be a lot less than you've previously believed. A welcome relief, I'm sure!