How to Beat Insomnia, Jet Lag and Master the Nap.
Please check out this great infographic which sets out some great tips for great sleep as well as overcoming insomnia and jet lag.
From Visually.
sleep
Children, Insomnia and Sleep – some advice from Dr Rob Hicks on getting the best night’s rest for your child!
Dr Rob Hicks on Children and Sleep
Today we would like to share with you Dr Hicks’ suggestions on how to get the best night’s sleep for your child.
We asked Dr Hicks as to why children often have difficulty getting to sleep. He replied “Well I think the reasons for children are very similar to those that are adults so when you look at the survey results worrying about something was the major cause of not getting a good night sleep and you have to acknowledge that even children worry about things just like adults do although children tend to worry about different things so it might be the fact that they have had an argument with a friend in school or maybe they have stopped being best friends with somebody , maybe they have exams coming up ins school, maybe they are in secondary school and they have very important exams coming up whereas with adults they tend to worry about money, occupation ,work and relationship problems.”
His advice for a good routine was excellent and very straightforward he feels “the routine is very important whether you are a child or an adult and what we talk about is sleep hygiene mechanism so you have to make sure that somebody is going to bed at the same time every night, that they get up every time every morning and that’s the case of whether it’s a work day, a school day or its day that they have off, to make sure that the bedroom is quiet, that its dark, that the bed and pillow is comfy and that is basically conducive to a good night’s sleep.”
Diabetes and Sleep – Dr Rob Hicks tells us why too little sleep puts us at risk from Diabetes.
Dr Rob Hicks on Diabetes and Sleep
PatientTalk.Org conducted this interview about sleep and diabetes with TV’s Dr Rob Hicks just before Easter!
We kicked off with asking Rob to tell us a bit about the connection between sleep and diabetes. He replied “The connection is that if you’re suffering with a problem with sleep and so for example you’re not getting enough sleep that there is a link with an increased risk of developing type two diabetes and that’s two fold, one is because people who do not get enough sleep tend to gain weight and that’s often because actually when we are tired we eat more comfort food and we are less active and there’s also been some research recently suggesting for people who are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis this effects just how effective insulin is , it increases something called insulin resistance which is felt to be the most main reason for type two diabetes so this is one of the many reason why we should take a good night’s sleep very seriously indeed. ”
Turning to the prevention of diabetes he shared “Well the important thing about a good night sleep is obviously the following day if you haven’t had a good night’s sleep you feel really tired , not only loss concentration pool but also productivity is likely to be bad but also you switch to move too eating more comfort food which tend to be high in calories and high in saturated fat, your less likely to be active you’re more likely to drink alcohol, that piles on the pounds in weight and the major risk factor for type two Diabetes is gaining weight. ”
Of course a good nights sleep is important for those who have already been diagnosed with diabetes. “A good night’s sleep is good for everybody whether they have got diabetes or not because one of the problems is with not getting a good night’s sleep and certainly the Dunelm sleep survey has highlighted this is that people who are left tired the following day they are more likely to be irritable, they are more likely to adopt unhealthy lifestyles habits that increase blood pressure that increase cholesterol , we know that those factors increase the risk of not just diabetes but also of heart attacks and strokes but also it increases the risk of stress and anxiety and when we are felling stressed again we don’t follow healthy practises so if we want to get the best out of the day look after our emotional and physical well being then it’s very very important to have a good night’s sleep. ”
You can find out about ways of getting more and better sleep to help fight insomnia at our previous blog! Please follow this link https://patienttalk.org/insomnia-busting-some-great-tips-to-help-you-get-more-and-better-sleep/.
Healthy sleep: practical things you can do to improve your routine
Sleep soundly
If you find that you’re tossing and turning a lot before going to sleep at night, or perhaps nodding off initially but then waking up again after a few short hours, it may be your bedtime routine and environment that’s making it difficult for you to get a good night’s sleep. You really need regular, quality sleep to function properly and to stay healthy, so here are a few ways in which you can achieve sufficient sleep so that you wake up feeling rested and ready for a new day:
Your environment
Start with your bedroom, ensuring this is comfortable and conducive to a peaceful night. When it comes to colours, blue and green are considered to be calming and relaxing and you could use these, together with white, on bed linen as well as on walls and floors. Change to low wattage bulbs for the bedroom, where the lighting should be soft rather than harsh, and easy to control.
You should also control the way daylight enters the room so you can achieve the level of darkness you prefer – smart, wooden shutters offer the best level of control, better than heavy curtains or blackout blinds because you can alter the slats to easily and quickly dim or brighten a room. In fact, shutters are also good for noise control, reducing the sounds of traffic or loud neighbours, so it’s worth visiting a website that provides solid wooden shutters with a view to dressing your window interiors with them. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours so you can easily match them with your décor.
A good quality bed frame and mattress is essential to good quality sleep. The Sleep Council recommends that if you haven’t upgraded your mattress in the last seven years, now would be a good time to do it. You should have sufficient space in your bed to turn and to stretch comfortably.
Your routine
It’s not good to watch television or stare at computers just before bed, so don’t expect to fall immediately into peaceful, restful sleep mode after an exciting gaming session or programme. Instead, a warm bath is soothing, and reading a book or listening to music or the radio will help you to relax. Some people like to write a ‘to do’ list for the next day at the end of an evening, helping them to rid their minds of any distracting thoughts. Others like to practise some gentle yoga stretches or use a relaxation CD.
Insomnia can be caused by stress, diet or medication, depending on your lifestyle habits. Tackle stress, perhaps using relaxation exercises; think carefully about what you eat and drink in the evening and check with your GP if you suspect medication may be interfering with your sleep.
Sometimes insomnia is merely temporary and disappears after a short time. However, if you have suffered sleepless nights for an extended period, check on whether your environment is sleep-friendly and improve your bedtime routine.
Do you suffer from Sunday Night Insomnia? Take our poll
Sleep and negative feelings
25% of us suffer from insomnia the night before we return to work on a Monday morning.
Sunday-somnia was how the article described the phenomenon.
But is it true?
When I used to commute I’d have said yes I didn’t look forward to Monday mornings and doing battle with London Underground. You can smell too many armpits of a morning.
But I can honestly say I did not lose a whole bunch of sleep over it.
Do I thought I would see what my readers think about the statement. To find out we have set up a poll below. It would be great if you could take part and share the poll with your family and friends so we can get the biggest sample size possible.
If you do suffer from insomnia please check out these tips to help you get a more restful nights sleep.
Feel free to share your story in the comments section below!