Olympics Got Your Sleep?

The Olympic coverage isn't helping millions of Americans get to bed on time. There's nothing more stimulating that watching Michael Phelps's dash to gold and carving his name in the history books. The "live" coverage we see at night took place half a day ago around the world in Beijing, but NBC delivers the goods like a suspenseful mystery. Coming up, in about 45 minutes, Michael Phelps goes for his 6th gold... But before that, we'll turn to women's gymnastics where the Chinese are determined to beat the Americans... Will they do it? Find out!

No wonder a few of us are lagging in the morning this week. The Olympics aside, though, sleep evades as many as 70 million Americans on a regular basis. As noted recently by Consumer Reports, almost one in five Americans take prescription or over-the-counter medicines at least once a week to help them sleep better. Despite recommendations to limit the use of sleeping pills, some people find themselves downing a pill every single night to get to sleep. Yikes.

Drugs to help people sleep do have their place, but I agree with the article posted by Consumer Reports that there are alternatives to medications that I would implore all sleepless souls to try. Some of my favorites:

Try a sound machine. They have been shown to work wonders on people who can't get to sleep easily, and who would otherwise resort to taking something. These machines emit soothing sounds like trickling waterfalls, oceanic waves, and chirping birds.

Play mind games. Count backwards from 300 by 3's. This is a difficult task, and will distract you from thinking about your other things. If worries are bothering you, write them down and then lie back and pretend they are bubbles floating up through your body, which then vanish. Feel the troubles float away as your body slips into sleep.

Moderate exercise and stretching before bed. Although some argue that exercise can stimulate the body and prevent sleep, exercise can reduce anxiety in some people. So it might be a good idea to experiment with a mild to moderate exercise routine before bed. An evening, low-intensity yoga or meditation class is also an option.

Have a soak. Try a hot bath or shower with aromatherapy (smelly bath salts) and low lighting (no candles—fire hazards).

Rub the day's tensions away. Ask for a massage from your spouse or bed partner.

And of course, try not to sit on the edge of your couch watching the Olympics coverage if it means cutting into deep sleep. Do what I know many are doing: cheat. Go online to find out who wins, and use a DVR machine to record the events you want to see when you've got the time to do so. (Or you can download those recordings, too, at http://www.nbcolympics.com/.) The highlights are the best part. No commercials. You know all those Olympians are sure to get their sleep. Why not you?

This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• Are You Suffering From Olympic Exhaustion?
• Olympics "Hangover"

Technorati Tags: sleep, Olympics, insomnia

The Heat Factor: Warm Skin, Cozier Sleep

There are lots of things you can try to enhance the quality of your sleep and avoid waking up at night. But here's something you probably haven't heard of before: warming up your skin.

The news just came in from the Netherlands in a study published in the journal Brain. Turns out that increasing the temperature of your skin--but not your core body temperature--just a little bit can help you achieve deeper, more restful sleep and avoid waking up too early in the morning.

These types of sleep problems are common among older folks.

The reasoning behind the phenomenon is that skin warming has been shown to stimulate areas in the brain that are involved in regulating sleep. Studies on skin in recent years have been turning up all sorts of fascinating discoveries. We've learned a great deal about how skin is like the brain's twin. It can create messages for the brain to respond to without needing the brain to act first.

To think that a little warmth on your skin can effect change in the brain and plunge you into top-quality sleep is, wel, amazing. Gives a whole new meaning to wrapping yourself up in a blankie.

It's not always easy to find sure-fire ways to solve sleep problems, especially in people who suffer from insomnia or who can't seem to get through the night and early morning hours without waking. The elderly are famous for their lack of quality sleep and inability to stay asleep for long periods of time.

So can this recent study offer a new way to promote better sleep? I think it may be worth trying. Keep the ambient bedrooms temps cool but keep the blankies close. Sleep tight.

Related Topics:

• Natural Good Sleep
• Sleep Disorders and Aging

Technorati Tags: sleep, skin, sleep disorders, sleep doctors


This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Do You Ever See Darkness Any More?

How long do you think you'd survive if you were to go back to the caveman days? No flashlights or incandescents. No cell phones or bright PDAs. No blinking router lights. No bright digital clocks to watch in your sleeplessness. You'd have just the moonlight and stars to guide you after the sunsets, and the black of night to be your blankie during sleep.

A recent article I read points to the fact so many of our modern gadgets blink, flicker, and shine to the point they can light up a room at night. You might not notice them during the day, but turn the "real" lights out at night and check out how many electronics still glow in blue, red, green, and yellow. The bedside clock-radio. The electric toothbrush. The coffee machine. The DVR. The laptop computer.

And if many or all of these "beacons" are in the same room, which can be the case for people living in tight quarters - a dorm room, a single or bachelor pad, a New York City apartment - then you could find yourself applying black tape to those tiny diode lights just to get a good night's sleep! (You don't want to disconnect them because they will lose their charge and not work when you need them.)

Another problem making all of this worse is the rising popularity of blue LEDs. Why? Because in dim light, our eyes are more sensitive to colors at the blue end of the spectrum. Blue LEDs look brighter and can be more disturbing to the wannabe sound sleeper.

If you were to take an inventory of your electronic parade in your home, I bet you'll find a few with blue blinkers. (Ironically, researchers are exploring whether blue LEDs can be used to keep people alert and awake. Scientists have discovered that a light-sensitive layer of the eye, which is different from the part that allows us to see, sends signals to the body that affect rhythms of wakefulness and sleep.) The good news, so far, at least, is that we don't think the low levels of blue light emitted by gadgets is enough to change our sleep patterns. Whew!

The lesson here hearkens back to my usual suggestions for keeping a sleep-friendly bedroom. Heed the following:

• Remove electronics that you don't need, including television (unless you require it to get to sleep--for some it's relaxing), computers, laptops, and cell phone.


• Avoid having the kind of alarm clock-radio that emits a strong digital light, especially a blue one. If your sleep patterns are regular, see if you can go without an alarm clock at all!


• Use electric black tape to cover up any lights shining that are inevitably part of your bedroom setting.


• Don't forget to check outdoor lights, too. If a backyard or front light is shining too brightly, or in the direction of a window, it could be disrupting your sleep.

We live in such a bright, digital world that we can forget that the very things of convenience can become the very villains of inconvenience when it's time to get our shut-eye. There's a time to look into the light... and a time for darkness.

This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus' official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• 10 Tips to Beat Insomnia
• WebMD Video: Sleep Cycle Struggles

Technorati Tags: light, darkness, sleep

Sleep Secrets from the Olympians

The Beijing Olympics are off to a fiery start. High expectations abound, the least of which is the monster one placed on China to clear the air. At that level of competition, everything has to be absolutely perfect--you can't get sick or injured, and you definitely can't be tired. So you know there's no late-night partying going on before an event. These athletes may be superhuman, but even the elite set limits.

Most Olympians endure years of training, keeping up with the top information about how to nourish and care for their precious bodies that are charged to win. Sure, they have access to the best of the best. The best trainers, equipment, coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and sports psychologists. Even the much-adored Dara Torres who, at 41, is being watched like a hawk to see if she can take home a medal in swimming, admits that she drops $100 grand a year on hiring these bests (this includes a stretching coach and a masseuse; where's mine?).

Clearly, these Olympians probably know a thing or two about being in tip-top shape. Everything about them is elite. And I bet secrets to diet and exercise aren't their only concerns. They know how to recover, rest, and listen to their bodies when it cries for a time-out. They understand the value of sleep for repairing worn tissues, restoring their muscles for the next workout, and recharging their brains to think clearly, calculatingly.

For many of these elites, life is simply about training, eating, and sleeping. That's it. And when the training gets tough, they cycle through several workout-eat-sleep periods throughout the day. Sleep, in fact, even when it arrives in pulses of naps, is a training tool on par with any other asset they need to win.

In September's issue of Runner's World, the magazine highlights some of these "secrets", and a few guilty pleasures the athletes keep. Of course, since the magazine is geared for running enthusiasts, the marathoners and "athletic" athletes ("athletics" is traditional Olympic speak for track-and-field) get the spotlight. Some fun tidbits:

• Deena Kastor, our hopeful for the women's marathon, hits the pillow at 8:30 p.m. (granted, she probably does get up early, but she sleeps over 8 hours a night and naps when she needs to).


• Dathan Ritzenhein, our hopeful for the men's marathon, calls it a day at 9:00 p.m.


• Brian Sell (another US marathoner), Magdalena Lewy Boulet (another US marathoner), and Matt Tegenkamp (our 5000-meter dasher) all hit the hay at 9:30 p.m.


• Midnighters: Shannon Rowbury (1500 meter-dasher), and Erin Donohue (1500 meters). It appears the endurance athletes need more sleep than the sprinters. Do long sleepers correlate with long distance? I'll have to think about that...

Deena Kastor is a firm believer that you're more likely to under-rest than over-train, and I think this advice can relate to everyone. When you're overworked and overtired - even if your version of "work" is far from a race track and closer to the confines of an office or house - the secret to feeling at your best lies in resting up. To wit: get to bed earlier and see sleep as much of an asset to your health and fitness as anything else in life. These Olympians don't take it for granted. Why should you?

Oh, and if you're looking for some guilty pleasures Olympic-style, I suggest you do amp up your workout routines to keep up with the likes of Ryan Hall, who loves to put down a whole loaf of fresh-baked bread; or Brian Sell who eats an Egg McMuffin at least three times a week; or Nick Symmonds (800 meter-dasher), who admits to burgers on Tuesdays, and pizza and beer on the weekends.

Another secret they probably know: sleep helps keep weight in check. Which is why my Gold Medal goes to...a good night's sleep.

Related Topics:

• Slide Show: 10 Tips for an Olympic Body
• Eating for Olympic Edge

Technorati Tags: olympics, athletes, training, sleep

This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Texting in Your Sleep?

As crazy as this might sound, there might be some truth to the recently discovered phenomenon of "sleep-texting."

You heard that right: texting people with a cell phone while you're asleep!

I read about this strange story online, and apparently, a Texan newspaper wrote about it last month. In its coverage, a 24-year-old woman claimed to have texted her boyfriend while asleep, and discovered what she'd done only once she'd awakened. Another fellow wrote about it on his blog, so clearly this must be happening to more than just a few people. (Sorry, I can't say I've had this experience myself.)

The question is, does sleep-texting really happen when you're asleep? Or is it something that happens quickly during a moment of wakefulness in the night and then you forget about it the next morning?

No one really knows. It's entirely possible to perform a small action in the night during a few short minutes of wakefulness that you cannot recall the next day, but it may also be possible to perform an action that's so ingrained in your brain and habits that it's like driving on "autopilot." Today's younger generation is so constantly attached to their mobile devices (I think kids win hands down for how fast they can type on a smart phone) that working those cell phones and texting are second nature. It's an addiction unlike any other.

It's weird to think you can send a message in the middle of the night that you won't remember doing the next day. You just might find yourself in a situation where you actually do send a text you'd self-censor during the daylight hours.

I've said in the past that bedrooms should be a cell-phone free zone. They don't harmonize with the setting for restful sleep. And what if that phone rings back with a text from the person who receives your midnight message?

I say, put those cell phones to bed--in another room. Give it a rest. Your sleep will thank you.

This article is cross-posted at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.

Related Topics:

• Teens Talk, Text Into the Wee Hours
• When Technology Addiction Takes Over Your Life

Technorati Tags: sleep, cell phone, text messages, texting