Sleep Well Tonight
Counting Z’s instead of sheep
Photograph by graphixel/istockphoto
If you are sleeping less than your body requires, you could be putting yourself and your family at risk. “You cannot shorten your sleep indefinitely,” says Dr. William Dement, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University and founder of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Center. We can learn to “behave” when we are sleepy, Dement says, but over time, “lost sleep accumulates as a debt.”
Each of us has a daily sleep requirement; our bodies do not function well on less than seven or eight hours sleep. Symptoms such as a lack of energy or drowsiness during the day may indicate sleep deprivation. Dement says you know you are getting adequate sleep “when you feel wide awake and energetic all day long.”
What to do if you aren’t sleeping well? Before heading to the drugstore for over-the-counter sleep aids, start practicing good sleep habits. Dement says people who have trouble sleeping should keep a strict sleep schedule, retiring and rising at approximately the same time every day. Go to sleep in a quiet, dark room that has a temperature setting suited to your individual needs. Stay away from stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, or even exercise a few hours before you sleep. Exercising too close to bedtime may overstimulate your body.
As for over-the-counter sleep aids, most are controversial. According to the Stanford Medical Library, sleep aids such as Tylenol PM contain diphenhydramine, a sedating antihistamine. There is little evidence that diphenhydramine improves insomnia and it may cause drowsiness the next day, due to its long half-life.
Ann Marie Deas, a licensed acupuncturist who practices in Los Gatos, says that Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine approach sleep problems differently. In Western medicine, “chronic insomnia is most often treated with sleeping pills or anti-depressants. Chinese medicine sees insomnia as a symptom of an imbalance in the flow of vital energy in the body’s major organ systems,” Deas says.
A combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs are often used to help patients sleep better, but in traditional Chinese medicine, there is no “one-size-fits-all” sleeping pill. Each treatment plan must be tailored to the individual, Deas says. “Not every insomnia patient will be treated with the same herbs or acupuncture points.”
Both Western and Chinese medicine agree on the concept of lifestyle modifications for better sleep. In addition to the sleep habits Dement suggests, Deas adds that people who have sleeping problems should “turn off all electronics—computer, email, TV, phone, etc.—a couple hours before bedtime.” She also recommends a cup of chamomile tea as a sleep-inducer, and simple relaxation techniques such as taking a warm bath, reading, or meditating before bedtime.
