One third of a person’s life is spent in sleep, and the health of the human body and the length of life is closely related to the quality of sleep. In daily life, people pay attention to diet and exercise, but often ignore the important factor of sleep – every day, 80% of urbanites can not sleep at night, and 70% of insomniacs are “fighting by themselves”. On March 21, “World Sleep Day” is coming, let’s “save” sleep together.
Healthy life starts with sleep
Unexpectedly, sleep is in a dilemma of “one high, three low”
According to the “2006 Report on the Status of Insomnia among the General Population in Six Cities in China” published by the China Sleep Research Association, the current prevalence of insomnia among adults in China is 57%, of which about 50% of insomnia patients are accompanied by various mental illnesses, and 53% have symptoms for more than one year. According to an online survey on the sleep status of Chinese urbanites, 80% of urban adults in China currently have sleep problems …… A large amount of data proves that the sleep time of Chinese people is decreasing and the quality of sleep is declining.
Long-term insomnia can induce hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, increase the risk of stroke and lower immunity. In the U.S., accidental losses due to fatigue caused by sleep problems are about $43 billion per year, and property damage caused by car accidents due to sleep disorders is about $12 billion. In addition to being able to indirectly cause huge economic losses, sleep disorders can also cause social stability problems such as marriage and employment.
Although the sleep problem is so serious, the current awareness of the importance of sleep is still far from adequate, resulting in the high incidence of sleep disorders in China and the dilemma of “one high, three low” with low consultation rate, low treatment rate and very low cure rate. According to the “2006 Report on the Status of Insomnia among the General Population in Six Cities in China”, 73% of the more than 1,500 people surveyed who had insomnia problems had not used any drugs, had not taken any measures, and did not know whether insomnia was considered a disease or not. Only 13 percent of people went to the hospital and talked to their doctors about this problem, and only 5 percent of patients used their physicians’ prescriptions to relieve insomnia.
In this regard, Professor Han Fang said, in fact, in clinical practice, those who can go to the clinic for treatment are some patients who are deeply troubled by sleep disorders, while more people with mild or moderate sleep disorders simply do not recognize the importance of sleep problems.
Urgent, “junk sleep” endangers youth
A survey shows that 60% of primary and secondary school students in Beijing do not get enough sleep. “Take junior high school students as an example, generally children have to get up at 6:00 a.m., arrive at school at 7:00 p.m., and leave school at 5:00 p.m. When they get home, they have to do a lot of homework, usually from 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Some children may even delay until 11:00 p.m. This means that children spend 8 and a half hours at school every day, excluding recess time and homework at night, so they actually study for 11 hours a day and sleep for only about 7 hours. In such a situation, can their health be guaranteed?” One parent expressed worryingly.
Along with the lack of sleep time, the quality of sleep for teenagers is also taking a big hit. Nowadays, many children have computers, TV sets, MP3 players and cell phones in their bedrooms. Due to the heavy study load and pressure, coupled with the playful nature of teenagers, many children often fall asleep in the company of TV or video games. In addition, many children are not used to “sleep with the lights off”, which leads to their poor sleep quality.
In this regard, Professor Han pointed out that “junk sleep” (lack of sleep and low quality sleep), like “junk food”, has become an important factor affecting the health of adolescents. Adequate sleep plays an irreplaceable role in the physical development of adolescents, and studies have found that children who do not get enough sleep not only have slower growth and development, but also have less concentration, memory, organizational skills, self-control, creativity and motor skills.
Professor Han suggests that parents of teenagers should explain to their children the importance of sleep to their health, and that they should strictly manage the sleep of children under the age of 16 – urge their children to go to bed on time and with the lights out, not to install computers in their bedrooms and make sure that they turn off all electrical appliances when they go to bed, not to leave MP3s and MP4s on, not to Before going to bed to chat on the phone or endlessly texting, while ensuring that children get enough sleep to lay the foundation for a healthy lifestyle.
Horrifyingly, 70% of office workers suffer from insomnia
”I’ve been having trouble sleeping for over a month now. My boss requires everyone’s cell phone to be on 24 hours a day so that I can get in touch at any time, and now I get nervous and headaches when I hear the ringing. When I close my eyes at night, my mind is full of thoughts about how to fall asleep, and I am often woken up in the middle of the night. I can’t concentrate the next day, and my work efficiency is very low. I often lose my temper for no reason, and I feel irritable for no reason, as if I can’t control myself. Recently, not only the dark circles under the eyes, even the face has begun to yellow.” Miss Li, who works in a joint venture company, complained to the reporter.
In this regard, Professor Han pointed out that in recent years, the trend of patients suffering from sleep disorders in the clinic is growing rapidly, and many of them are young people. Sleep disorders in young people are mainly due to the fast pace of life, excessive work pressure and night life, drinking and other bad habits caused by these people in general will also show tension and anxiety and even paranoid tendencies. According to a survey, 68% of office workers have less than 5 hours of sleep, and 72% of them feel weak, tired and slow the next day, but only 12.3% of them will link this symptom with lack of sleep.
Professor Han said that there are two types of sleep deprivation among office workers: one is not enough sleep time, obviously 4-5 hours of sleep is too little for most people; the other is that sleep time is guaranteed, but due to the pressure of work and life, there are more dreams and more wakings, resulting in too little deep sleep time, and the next day still feel too little sleep and The next day, they still feel too little sleep and feel tired and yawning, which seriously affects their health over time.
Professor Han said that the first thing that office workers should do is to pay enough attention to the sleep disorder, to constantly improve the psychological tolerance, learn to decompress themselves and maintain a calm state of mind about their work. No matter how heavy the workload is, make sure to sleep every day and don’t fight with fatigue, because sufficient sleep can improve work efficiency. Commuters can make full use of free time to do more exercise, such as doing office exercises or exercise in the unit gym. Develop a regular lifestyle habits, reasonable arrangements for work and rest time. Secondly, to rationalize the dietary structure, eat more vegetables, fruits, potatoes, beans, milk and its products. At the same time, make full use of the fragmented time in the stressful work and do some appropriate physical exercise.
Professor Han said that insomnia in young people is mostly symptomatic insomnia, such as insomnia caused by anxiety, depression and tension due to love loss, unemployment, personnel changes, exams, etc. Primary insomnia is very rare in young people, which is different from insomnia in middle-aged and elderly people. If young people occasionally insomnia do not need to be nervous, usually pay attention to adhere to a regular work and rest schedule, appropriate physical exercise, create a good sleep environment, through self-adjustment can be restored. However, if the above-mentioned symptoms recur and persist for a long time, you should go to the relevant hospital and take sleep improvement drugs under the guidance of your doctor to improve your symptoms early.
Go all out to overcome the menopause hurdle
Hot flashes (accompanied by night sweats) are the most common symptom in menopausal women, with about 80% of women going through menopause experiencing this symptom and the resulting insomnia. Due to hot flashes, the body temperature rises rapidly at night, causing many sleep disorders such as frequent waking or difficulty falling asleep. Prof. Han says this is due to a decrease in the quality of sleep and even sleep disorders caused by the decrease in estrogen levels and progesterone production in women during menopause. As women age, sleep apnea and leg hyperactivity syndrome will become common, and women who are overweight or immobile may also have sleep problems with loud snoring, and any one of these symptoms can disrupt sleep. As menopause advances and lengthens in urban women, sleep problems in menopausal women are becoming more common and serious.
Professor Han says that although changes in the sleep structure of menopausal women are inevitable, there are still laws to follow to maintain a good night’s sleep. In terms of medication, there are a number of products available to address the problems of women who are neither taking estrogen nor using hormone replacement therapy. These include nutritional products, calcium tablets, vitamin D, zolay phosphate for osteoporosis, and hypnotic medications for insomnia.
Some other good ways to promote sleep are recommended, such as not watching TV in the bedroom, training the brain to slow down in the evening, changing the bed to a light cotton blanket, wearing breathable loose pajamas, and not drinking coffee and tea after lunch. In addition, daily sun exposure stimulates the body to produce a hormone called melatonin. It helps you maintain your natural physiological rhythm, making you active during the day and sleepy at night. If you are sensitive to light, you can dim the lights a few hours before you go to bed to remind your brain that it’s time to sleep.
Finally, women should have a full psychological preparation for this “must arrive” life journey, pay attention to psychological adjustment; in the living, pay attention to the regularity of life. A relaxed mood and a regular routine can help you get a good night’s sleep.
The truth is that it is not normal for the elderly to sleep less
Many people believe that the need for sleep will naturally decrease as people get older. In this regard, Professor Han reminds us that studies over the years have shown that older people and younger people also need adequate sleep, which is an important factor for a long and healthy life.
Professor Han said that because of the deterioration of sleep function in the elderly, it is more difficult to fall asleep at night, which is why it gives the illusion of “less sleep”. In addition, the elderly often take a variety of drugs, these drugs may interact with each other, resulting in insomnia or daytime sleepiness.
According to statistics, the incidence of sleep snoring can be as high as 60% among the elderly over 65 years old, and 20-40% of them have apnea. In other words, at least one out of four snorers suffers from sleep apnea syndrome. Due to the complex and diverse clinical manifestations of sleep apnea, it is easy to be overlooked or misdiagnosed as a psychiatric disease, as well as a complication of hypertension, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, coronary heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, epilepsy, impotence and other diseases. It is customary in China to call elderly people who die quietly in their sleep as “dying without illness”, but from the perspective of sleep medicine, most of these elderly people are killed by sleep diseases. Therefore, Professor Han reminds the elderly to raise awareness of sleep apnea and to prevent and treat it early.
According to Prof. Han, raising awareness of the dangers of sleep disorders and enhancing self-care among the elderly will play a positive role in reducing the damage caused by sleep disorders to physical and mental health. In fact, elderly people who suffer from various organic diseases and have sleep disorders, if they can maintain good living and sleep hygiene habits, and after reasonable sleep treatment, they can get twice the result with half the effort to stabilize and control their original diseases.
In addition, the elderly should know some general knowledge of sleep medicine health care. It is important to have a good sleep environment to ensure good sleep, such as regular living; sleep environment should be comfortable, quiet and dark; bedroom temperature should be appropriate, not too cold or too hot; avoid excitatory activities or drink containing excitatory drinks before bedtime; patients with sleep-wake disorders should consciously establish a regular sleep-wake pattern. Patients with sleep-wake disorders should consciously establish a regular sleep-wake pattern, do not lie in bed without special circumstances, and go to bed only when they feel like sleeping; do not read or work in bed; no matter how long you sleep, get up on time in the morning and do not doze off during the day, etc. In addition, it is also effective to improve the quality of sleep by doing outdoor activities, participating in group activities for the elderly and maintaining an optimistic mental state.
Finally, Professor Han reminded that there are often advertisements on the market and in the press about certain health products and products that can improve sleep, but so far, our sleep professional institutions have never conducted scientific verification of these products, I hope that the majority of insomnia patients remain vigilant, do not be deceived, when there are sleep disorders should go to a qualified sleep specialist clinic for medical treatment.
Health Links
There are 10 taboos for good sleep
In terms of sleep preparation, posture and habits, we should also pay attention to the following taboos.
1, avoid eating before going to sleep: after people enter the sleep state, the body part of the activity rhythm slowed down, into the rest state. If you eat before going to bed, the gastrointestinal and other busy, which increases their burden, the rest of the body can not get a good rest, not only affect sleep, but also harm health.
2, avoid excessive use of the brain before going to bed: night such as work and study habits, to the more brain-damaging done beforehand, before going to bed to do something more relaxed, so that the brain relaxed, so it is easy to sleep. Otherwise, the brain is in a state of excitement, even lying in bed is difficult to sleep, over time, but also prone to insomnia.
3, avoid emotional excitement before going to bed: people’s happiness and sadness are likely to cause excitement or disorder in the nerve center, making it difficult to fall asleep, and even cause insomnia. Therefore, before going to bed to try to avoid great joy and anger or worry and anger, try to make emotional stability.
4, avoid talking before bed: because talking is easy to make the brain excitement, active thinking, which affects sleep.
5, avoid drinking strong tea and coffee before bed: strong tea, coffee is a stimulating drink, containing substances such as caffeine that can make people mentally stimulated, drink before bedtime is easy to cause difficulty in falling asleep.
6, avoid sleeping on your back: sleep position to the right side and lying down is better, so that the whole body bones, muscles are in a natural state of relaxation, easy to fall asleep, but also easy to eliminate fatigue. Supine so that the whole body bones, muscles are still in a state of tension, is not conducive to eliminating fatigue, but also easy to cause nightmares due to hand on the chest, affecting the quality of sleep.
7, avoid sleeping with the mouth open: sleep with the mouth open, the air is easy to take advantage of the virus and bacteria, resulting in “disease from the mouth”, but also easy to make the lungs and stomach by the cold air and dust stimulation, causing disease.
8, avoid sleeping with your head covered: the elderly are afraid of cold, especially in winter, like to sleep with their heads covered. In this way, a lot of inhalation of their exhaled carbon dioxide, and the lack of necessary oxygen supplementation, is extremely detrimental to the body.
9, avoid lying down for a long time: Chinese medicine believes that “long lying hurt”, too much sleep will appear dizziness, depression, loss of appetite.
10, avoid eye to light and sleep: people sleep, although the eyes are closed, but still can feel the light. Sleeping against the light, it is easy to make people disturbed and difficult to sleep, and even if you fall asleep, it is easy to wake up.
Weekend “catch up on sleep” is not advisable
The pace of life is accelerating, work, study intensity and other reasons caused by the lack of sleep in urban areas, so the weekend “catch up on sleep” has become a weekly “reserved program” for many people – do not sleep Not getting up until noon. This phenomenon is increasingly seen among working people and teenage students. So is the weekend “catch-up” method really effective?
Professor Han said that a proper “catch-up sleep” can be regarded as a kind of “compensation” for the human body, which can help to restore abundant energy, but if the sleep time is too long, the body tissue will remain rigid for a long time, but it will cause back pain and general weakness. Therefore, sleep is important in the usual, weekend “make up sleep” may be counterproductive.
Professor Han said that people who have taken a weekend nap often find that the usual symptoms of weakness, dizziness and lack of concentration are not reduced after waking up, but become more serious. Because, the more sleep is not the better, people need 7-8 hours of sleep a day, more or less is not possible. Too much “catch-up sleep” is actually an ineffective sleep, a pure waste of time. And the weekly change in sleep time makes their own biological clock can not adapt, will lead to a certain degree of neurological weakness, and even affect the endocrine digestive tract, loss of appetite, food deposited in the stomach feeling of fullness, serious can also lead to peptic ulcers or coronary heart disease and other diseases.
In addition to the use of weekend “sleep”, “sleep” on the bus is also very common. Before going to work every day on the bus can often see a lot of passengers with their heads resting on the back to rest their eyes, some young people like office workers are sleeping “backwards and forwards”. Professor Han said that such a practice is also undesirable, because people only in sleep after experiencing “deep sleep”, in order to make the full elimination of fatigue, but sleep in the car, snooze, easily disturbed by a variety of factors, the car shaking, the stimulation of light, the impact of sound, etc. are not easy to make people enter a deep sleep state, not only Sleep can not be eliminated, but also in the emergency braking cervical spine injury, or the symptoms of the pillow.
Professor Han said that the biological clock is the physiological rhythm of each person, only to follow the law of rest, to ensure their physical and mental health. Long-term “sleep” bedtime, will disrupt the body’s original biological clock, so that the metabolism is disrupted, leading to chronic insomnia. Therefore, you should develop good habits during the week, try to avoid staying up late, and do not wait until the weekend to make up for it. Professor Han suggests: you can arrange a reasonable rest time; take a hot bath before bed to relieve fatigue, you can also use hot water to soak your feet; drink a glass of hot milk before bed; jogging a class of exercise or light physical labor; if you expect to go to bed a little later at night, you can nap for half an hour if you have the conditions. “Do not rush to sleep, not to count sheep, even sit up and read a book and watch TV, let yourself relax, let nature take its course is the fastest way to sleep.” Professor Han said.