SWEAT YOUR WAY TO BETTER SLEEP
By throwing a little exercise into your schedule, your time asleep will be more restorative, says Ronald E.Kramer, a neurologist and board-certified sleep medicine physician in Denver.
"An hour in the gym probably will help your sleep and your cognitive functioning better than an extra hour of sleep without exercise, if you're
getting six [or more hours of sleep] a day," he says.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, workouts shouldn't be done too close to bedtime, as physical activity has an alerting effect on the body.The Foundation notes that some research suggests exercise is most beneficial five or six hours before bed.
a neurologist and board-certified sleep medicine physician in Denver.
Certain people, such as chronic insomniacs who can't even sleep well once during the day, should avoid naps and try instead to get their sleep all in one chunk, Kramer says.
For, the typical college student, however, Kramer says a short nap is a good idea.
In fact, when it comes to napping, less is more.
Naps should be kept under half an hour in duration, with one study even suggesting that the optimal nap time is 10 minutes, Gehrman says.
"You want to avoid getting into deeper stages of sleep because then it's hard to fully wake up from that," he says.
The short sleeper
For Lea Salvo, Council Bluffs, Iowa, senior, naps are out of the question. The pre-physical therapy student says she has never been able to take naps, which is why she relies on the age-old "good night's sleep" to get her through the day. She says that she usually goes to bed between 10:30 p.m. and midnight and gets up at 5 a.m. to run before getting ready for work. Salvo interss at Advance Rehabilitation in Topeka for 12 hours of class credit toward her degree.
"graduate school stuff,"she savs.
A shorter attention span, poor listening skills and an overall drag are signs of sacrificed sleep, she says. But those symptoms don't show up often; Salvo says she almost always feels rested during the day on her usual sleep of five or six hours. "On nights when I do stay up later and get less sleep, I seem to be more awake than if I get more sleep than I usually do," she says.
But Gehrman, the sleep expert in Philadelphia, says many short sleepers, although they might say they feel awake, could benefit from a little more sleep.
He cited one study that looked at people who claimed to function well on little sleep.The test showed,however,that the participants slept longer when given the chance.
"At some point you think you're adjusting to it," he says about shortened sleep schedules, "but in reality you're not. We're actually really poor at our ability to tell how much we're affected by sleep deprivation."
You can sleep,but you can't hide
For every set of drooping eyes looking toward the front of the classroom, there's a professor staring back. Perhaps no one on campus — except a student — sees the effects of sleep deprivation more than a professor.
reason for their sleepiness.The more time college students spend with TV, iPods and cell phones,the less time they spend studying — and sleeping.
"I think what happens, especially with all the technology we have, is that everybody tries to multi-task." Russo says. "Everything takes three or four times too long."
Russo says she doesn't perform as well at her job if she gets less sleep than her normal eight hours. "This is my pile of reading for today," she says, holding up a three-inch stack of papers. "This is the time of year when graduate students try to defend their comprehensive exams, theses and dissertations." Russo must read these projects and still make time for class work and grading, she says.
"Concentration is really important. You have to be able to just sit down and do it. And if I'm tired, my mind wanders," she says.
It seems simple enough. Sleep less, feel tired. Stay up late cramming for a test or hanging out with friends and expect to doze off in class the next day. But sleep deprivation can result in much more than yawning, heavy eyelids and irritability.
She says she often has a headache and scratchy eyes after a night of little sleep.
Sleep deprivation: the price we pay
Sleep regulates the hormones ghrelin and leptin, which help determine our feelings of hunger and fullness, respectively, according to the National Sleep Foundation. When sleep is cut short, it interferes with these hormones. That's why the link between a lack of sleep and obesity is one area that is gaining attention in sleep research.
Kramer, the Denver sleep expert.
"There are definite chemical and CONTINUED ON PAGE 12→
NREM (75 percent of night): As we begin to fall asleep,we enter NREM sleep,which is composed of stages 1-4
Stage 1
Between being awake and falling asleep
Light sleep
Stage 2
Onset of sleep
Breathing and heart rate are regular
*Becoming disengaged from surroundings*
THE STAGES OF SLEEP
$\rightarrow$ Blood pressure drops
Muscles are relaxed
Blood supply to muscles increases
Breathing becomes slower
Tissue growth and repair occurs
Energy is restored
Hormones are
released, including growth hormone essential for growth and development including muscle development
Provides energy to brain and body
REM (25 percent of night):
First occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and recurs about every 90 minutes, getting longer later in the night
Supports daytime performance
Eyes dart back and forth
Brain is active and dreams occur
- Eyes dart back and forth *
* Body becomes immobile and relaxed, as muscles are turned off
Source:www.sleepfoundation.org
05. 03.2007 JAYPLAY <11>