This reduces or stops airflow, which wakes people up during the night. In sleep apnea, the upper airway becomes blocked during sleep. Sleep apnea is another common sleep disorder. Long-term insomnia lasts for three months or longer. “Quite a few more people have been experiencing this during the pandemic,” Brown says. Insomnia can be short-term, where people struggle to sleep for a few weeks or months. It can make you feel tired or unrested during the day. This happens despite having the time to sleep and a proper sleep environment. “Insomnia is when you have repeated difficulty getting to sleep and/or staying asleep,” says Brown. The most common sleep disorder is insomnia. These problems are called sleep disorders. Some people have conditions that prevent them from getting enough quality sleep, no matter how hard they try. For adults, “if you’re sleeping more than nine hours a night and you still don’t feel refreshed, there may be some underlying medical issue,” she explains. On the flip side, more sleep isn’t always better, says Brown. Their bodies’ ability to control blood sugar levels also got worse. They compared them to sleep-deprived people who got to sleep in on the weekend.īoth groups of people gained weight with lack of sleep. In a recent study, Wright and his team looked at people with consistently deficient sleep. “But if you have a week’s worth of getting too little sleep, the weekend isn’t sufficient for you to catch up. “If you have one bad night’s sleep and take a nap, or sleep longer the next night, that can benefit you,” says Wright. Researchers are finding that this largely isn’t the case. Older adults are also more likely to take medications that interfere with sleep.Īnother sleep myth is that you can “catch up” on your days off. But sleep quality can get worse as you age. One is that adults need less sleep as they get older. There are many misunderstandings about sleep. Most adults need at least seven hours or more of sleep each night. Experts recommend school-age children get at least nine hours a night and teens get between eight and 10. How much sleep you need changes with age. “If you don’t get enough sleep, those processes are going to be disturbed.” Sleep Myths and Truths “There are certain repair processes that occur in the body mostly, or most effectively, during sleep,” he explains. Kenneth Wright, Jr., a sleep researcher at the University of Colorado. uses sleep as a time for repair, says Dr. These toxins were removed twice as fast from the brain during sleep.Įverything from blood vessels to the immune system The system that protects your body from invading viruses, bacteria, and other microscopic threats. Her team found in mice that the drainage system removes some of the proteins linked with Alzheimer’s disease. “It becomes almost like a kidney, removing waste from the system.” “When we sleep, the brain totally changes function,” she explains. Nedergaard and her colleagues discovered that the brain has a drainage system that removes toxins during sleep. For example, sleep helps prepare your brain to learn, remember, and create. Maiken Nedergaard, who studies sleep at the University of Rochester.

Why do we need to sleep? People often think that sleep is just “down time,” when a tired brain gets to rest, says Dr. But there are many things you can do to improve your sleep. And times of great stress-like the current pandemic-can disrupt our normal sleep routines. People who work the night shift or irregular schedules may find getting quality sleep extra challenging. The last is a consistent sleep schedule.” Another is sleep quality-that you get uninterrupted and refreshing sleep. “Healthy sleep encompasses three major things,” she explains. There’s more to good sleep than just the hours spent in bed, says Dr. These range from heart disease and stroke to obesity and dementia. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders. Good sleep improves your brain performance, mood, and health. It can make getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis seem like a dream.īut sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. Sometimes, the pace of modern life barely gives you time to stop and rest.

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