Making sleep a priority “EARLY TO bed, early to rise’? may lead to health, wealth and wisdom, as the old adage says — but few of us: practise such sound advice. Instead, we subject ourselves to late bedtimes and early alarm clocks in an effort to cram work, family responsibilities, exercise, household chores and social obligations into an all-too-brief 24-hour period.. We may seemingly be “having jt all,” but what we lose in the bargain is sleep. Sleep experts say that getting too few hours of sleep night after night has a cumulative effect, creating a ‘‘sleep deficit’? that takes its toll in daytime alertness. Millions of people, they estimate, are chronically sleep-deprived. “The vast majority of people in North America are shortchanging themselves by one to two hours ‘of sleep,”’ says Dr. Timothy Roehrs, director of research at the Sleep Disorders Centre at Henry Ford Hospital i in Detroit. “We are still unsure of the long-term effects, but the short- term effects are performance ‘and alertness problems, and difficulty staying awake.”’ Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers says that poor sleep takes a toll on all aspects of life, including rela- tionships with family and friends. “When we haven’t had enough sleep, we have less patience and humor to deal with life’s daily trials and frustrations,’’ she notes. “We may be quicker to vent our anger on our children, spouse and co-workers over things that seem inconsequential when we're well- rested.”’ How much is enough? The amount of sleep needed varies among individuals, but Roehrs has conducted research that suggests that many of us need more than we think. .The majority of. people, he believes, ‘actually require 84% to nine hours a night — compared to the seven- or 72-hour average that most of us get. “People often go for five days with shortened sleep time, and then try to. make up for it on the weekends by sleeping late in the morning — but that simply isn’t enough to recover,’’ says Roehrs. “So they carry the sleep debt from week to week to week.”” Oné way researchers diagnose sleep deprivation ir the laboratory is by measuring sleep Jatency -- the amount of time a person takes to fall asleep. Well-rested people fall asleep within 10 to 30 minutes, while people suffering from a sleep debt may nod off practically as soon as their head hits the pillow. Another study requires subjects to stay in bed for 10 hours for several consecutive days to see how many of those hours are spent sleeping. “We can tell they are beginning to meet their sleep requirement - when we find that point when they awaken, fully alert, and then feel continuously alert all day,” says Roehrs. He took a group of ‘‘normal’’ sleepers who average seven or so hours a night and found that they slept 9% out of 10 hours in the sleep lab. After several days of this lengthened sleep, their per- formance and alertness improved considerably. The dangers of 2 sleep deficit The serious implications of too little sleep are obvious for medical who work in critical jobs, bur drowsiness can have grim conse- quences for all of us. According to the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation, for ex- ample, some 200,000 traffic acci- dents a year-may be caused by drowsy drivers. Twenty per cent cf all drivers have fallen asleep at . least once behind the wheel. What many people may not re- alize is that they are more at risk for impairment from alcohol when they are sleep-deprived, says Roehrs. His research revealed that alcohol has two or three times the intoxicating effect on someone with only five hours of sleep than on someone who is well rested. In other words, when you’re lacking sufficient sleep, the alcohol equiva! lent of two or three beers carries the impact of nearly a six-pack, and a single martini can hit you like a double. To nap or not to nap? What about napping — is it counter-productive good night’s sleep? Only for people suffering from insomnia, says Roehrs. For those of us cheating on sleep to make time for other activities, naps can be very helpful. Mothers of young babies, for instance, have long been advised o ‘‘sleep when the baby sleeps’’ during the day to help compensate for interrupted nights. Researchers have found that napping from 20 minutes to an hour improves our ability to func- tion for the rest of the day, al- though not to the level of having slept all night. The best time to nap is in the afternoon, says Dr. Roger Broughton, director of the sleep disorders unit at Ottawa General Hospital and a professor of medi-| cine at the University of Ottawa. Broughton was the first to demonstrate that afternoon sleepiness, or the ‘‘mid-day dip,’’ to getting a_ as he calls it, is a part of the normal sleep cycle. ‘The brain is programmed to sleep at this time, just as it is at night,”’ he says. Experts caution that early-even- ing naps — after 6 or 7 p.m. — may be disruptive to nighttime sleep, and should be avoided. How do we fit more sleep time into a crowded schedule? By recognizing its vital role in good health and making it a priority in our lives. Dr. Joyce Brothers, for exam- ple, never allows herself to ac- cumulate a sleep debt; if she gets too little sleep one night, she makes up for it the next. ‘I have blinds that darken completely so that light doesn’t awaken me,”’ she says. With a schedule that includes frequent travel across time zones, Brothers has worked out a for- mula that ensures good sleep on the road and back at home. “When [ go to the West Coast, I stay on New York time so I don’t have to make an adjustment when [ get back. lt means | get up early in the morning — but I’m able to catch up on work at that time.”’ Brothers feels that a good sleep environment is crucial to good rest. While she can’t duplicate the comfort of her own bed when she’s travelling, she does the next best thing by bringing her own pillow and a duvet to sleep with. She avoids hotel rooms that have no access to fresh air. Brothers and Roehrs agree that many people need to change their attitudes about sleep. ‘Going without sleep seems to be part of a macho image,'’ says Roehrs. “You don’t hear people bragging that they got 12 hours of sleep — they talk about how hard they’re working, and how they only got five hours.”” He -points out that there is no excuse for letting job respon- sibilities interfere with sleep; on the contrary, people can work more efficiently and accomplish more when they are well rested. Club holds fall open house THE VANCOUVER African Vio- let Club is holding its fall open house and plant sale on Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the residents, airline pilots and others § Floral Hall, VanDusen Botanical Garden, corner of West 37th Avenue and Oak Street. Admission is free. e © 48 Hx19" W * 7x60W 30 . 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