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НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ • Липень-Серпень 2024 39 OUR HEALTH Ihor Magun, MD, FACP Sleep is as important to our lives as eating and breathing. Good, restful sleep is the foundation for optimal functioning of the body. Good sleep helps us recover from injury more quickly, delays cogni - tive decline, and contributes to an overall “happier self.” When sleep is derailed, it can cause var - ious concerns with physical and mental health. Insomnia is defined as dissat - isfaction with sleep quantity or quality, awakening unrefreshed. While insomnia is not the only type of sleep disorder, it is the most common one. Women are twice as likely to have insomnia as men, and older adults are more likely to experi - ence insomnia. The reason for the higher risk for women is mul - tifactorial and includes socioeco - nomic factors, hormonal factors, and social issues. Among the long-term effects of insomnia: women who sleep five or fewer hours a night have a 30% greater risk of developing coronary ar - tery disease. Are You Counting Sheep? So, what keeps people up? Concerns about global crises, anxiety, personal worries and issues, political divisions, blad - der issues, arthritic issues, sleep apnea (blockage of air flow dur - ing sleep), movement disorders (commonly referred to as rest - less leg syndrome) character - ized by an urge to move legs at night, and narcolepsy, a medical disorder that causes drowsiness during normal waking hours, can all cause insomnia. Other causes are excessive alcohol use, eating a heavy meal prior to retiring, in - tense physical exercise less than an hour before sleeping, caffeine intake (watch for beverages that may contain caffeine other than coffee and tea), and using mo - bile devices — scrolling through a phone or computer just before retiring to sleep. Certain medica - tions carry a risk for sleep distur - bances as a possible side effect. An additional interesting fact is that 83% of individuals with a diagnosis of depression have at least one symptom of insomnia. What is a healthy sleep pat - tern? Falling asleep usually oc - curs within 15 to 20 minutes, and sleep duration for adults is clocked at seven hours. The sleep patterns of older adults change, but the amount of sleep remains the same. Toddlers need 11-14 hours of sleep, and teenagers 8-10 hours. Maintain - ing a consistent going-to-sleep time and awakening time helps prevent insomnia issues. Our body/mind do much better with a regular sleep routine seven days a week (with obvious excep - tions). Getting 20-30 minutes of natural light each morning can help maintain a healthy sleep- wake cycle. What advice can be recom - mended? Keep your bedroom dark, qui - et, and cool. Use the bed for the “three S’s” — sleep, sickness, and sex. Stop worrying about sleep - ing since this propagates the in - somnia. Wear an eye mask, and consider “white noise” — these devices are readily available and at times are very helpful. Ad - dress medical issue with your physician. Insomnia is ideally addressed by treating the un - derlying illness itself. Excessive snoring, tossing, and turning in bed can help diagnose a sleep solution. If someone shares your bed, question them about what they have observed during your sleep. Finally, do not look at the clock. Many medications, both pres- cription and over-the-counter, are available to treat insomnia. One newer approach, consid - ered the cornerstone therapy for insomnia, is cognitive behavio - ral therapy. This involves work - ing with a therapist to uncover thoughts and behaviors that might interfere with sleep. This therapy provides constructive ways to deal with worry and oth - er emotions that prevent falling asleep. Getting a good night’s sleep is something we all need. Hope - fully, you have gained some good sleeping advice from this column, and I didn’t put you to sleep as you were reading it!
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