Email a Friend
Print Article
One More Reason to Become Smoke Free: Better Sleep
Here's a shocker: smokers don't sleep quite as well as non-smokers. (Okay, so that's not a shocker.)
New research, which you can read in summary form here, shows that cigarette smokers are four times as likely as nonsmokers to report feeling unrested after a night's sleep. (Confession: this isn't really new information; the study is "new" but the results have long been suspected.)
The study also reveals that smokers spend less time in deep sleep and more time in light sleep than nonsmokers, with the greatest differences in sleep patterns seen in the early stages of sleep. Deep sleep is what gives you that feeling of restfulness and is the zone where your body can physically rejuvenate itself at the cellular level. No deep sleep means you won't recuperate well from the day and be ready for the next.
Granted, I know that quitting smoking is easier said than done, and I don't pretend to have the quick-fix solution for that. But I can't think of a better way to tackle 2008 than to make this the year to call it quits. It's easy to forget that nicotine is a stimulant when so many smokers claim to "have a smoke" to relax themselves. This is called the "Nicotine Paradox", and is well documented.
Nicotine can stay in the body for as long as 14 hours. The effects of smoke on sleep depend largely on an individual's smoking habits (how much one smokes), but in general nicotine reduces total sleep time and deep sleep time. It's also been shown to worsen sleep-disordered breathing. Having said that, however, smokers who experience cravings due to nicotine-withdrawal symptoms in the middle of the night can be rudely awakened by the need to smoke and once they do, they can then go back to sleep. (In fact, insomnia is among smokers' most common complaints.)
In my last book, Beauty Sleep, I encouraged people to quit smoking but did not make the program contingent upon there being absolutely no cigarettes in one's life. This would be unrealistic for those who haven't taken the steps necessary to lose the cigarettes once and for all.
But I did offer this suggestion: Try having your last cigarette of the night about one hour earlier than normal. Keep yourself busy with your nighttime routine and get to bed on time. Make it a goal to wean yourself off nicotine little by little so you're smoke-free by 2009 if not sooner.
Among the more fascinating (but unsurprising) aspects to the study was that the researchers found it difficult to find smokers with no health conditions so they could fairly isolate the effects of smoking on sleep patterns. They needed to remove all factors that could potentially affect sleep, such as coexisting medical conditions, in order to show that sleep abnormalities in smokers could be directly associated with cigarette use.
Because smoking entails a host of risk factors for illness and disease, it's easy to see how finding otherwise "healthy" smokers would be a challenge. I'm hoping that the results of this study help doctors better understand how to tailor smoking-cessation programs to an individual's needs so the sleep effects are minimized. We need to do more for people who cannot seem to nix the fix.
The thought of becoming smoke free and fully rested every night sounds dreamy, doesn't it? If only that hought were enough...
This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's Blog, The Insomnia Blog.Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: sleep, sleep disorders, sleep doctor, smoking cessation, quit smoking
8 Comments:
There seems to be a flip side of sleep disorders when smokers try to quit. While this article is of some value, it is not anything not found on a dozen other web sites. What would be more valuable is to deal with the nicotine withdrawal issues that result in sleep disorders. Perhaps if there was more emphasis on helping those trying to withdrawal without drugs or with simple OTC or herbal aids there would be more success.
Nicotine withdrawal may be partially responsible, but I suspect it to be only one factor. It is a stimulant, after all. After smoking for 33 of my 47 years, I am smoke-free for 161 days. One of the first changes I noticed (nearly immediately) was that I began to dream again while sleeping. I wasn't even aware that I had ceased to dream, but the change was startling. It was the most surprising element of the process.
Dr. Breus' article here is patent nonsense! Just more of the same stuff...smoking has been blamed for everything imagineable! Instead of finding the REAL causes of many health problems, the government & medical communities just point automatically to smoking. I've been smoking for many years, have no problems sleeping, do have dreams, have a clear chest X-Ray each year, do not cough, nor have other health problems alleged to be caused by smoking! And I've smoked for over 45 years. Wonder why I'm not dead? According to all the "experts" I should be? LOL!
to the 1st anonymous commentator:
You have prolly smoked for over 45 years and still alive? that's good for you. You're prolly dumb about the effects of smoking in your later years. Diseases such as cancers usually appear in the middle-aged years. So, if you're not being a good steward of your body, I wish you luck!
btw, you can't be dead right away. you can die slow tho. =P
...oh.. my comment is for the anonymous commentator who talked about smoking for over 45 yrs.
The title is misleading at best! ome of us have never smoked, but the article talks about nothing but smokers, I kept reading, but nothing helpful for me, unless I start smoking and then stop!
I just quit smoking after 10 years- cold turkey and no looking back!!!
The most interesting thing for me about stopping has been my changes in sleep- and I agree with what the doctor has said here. I thought I had chronic insomnia, and had been diagnosed as such. However, I am getting to bed at a normal time, and waking up rested and ealier all within the first 2 weeks of quitting! It has maintained, and I am really enjoying my new schedule!
I stumbled on this article because of search on sleeping disorders after stopping smoking. So to me this is just another moralistic "smoking is bad" story. I did stop smoking after I have smoked all my life. I will not go smoking again ever but for me a lot of troubles started with stopping smoking. The biggest problem is that my uptill now perfect sleeping ritme is totally messed up. Since I stopped using nicotine replacements after stopping smoking, I havent had one good night sleep anymore. So to all this one sides anti smoke articles I want to say: "Its not all good to stop smoking" Prepare yourself for hell and think again before quitting smoking.
Post a Comment