06-19-2024 Primetime - Flipbook - Page 6
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 19, 2024
HEALTH
Sleep…
or lack thereof
Ways to get a good
night’s rest
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
Molly
Atwood
C
J’s partner died during the pandemic. It was an awful 10 days during
which she fought to be allowed to visit. She described that time as a
nightmare. Since then, her sleep patterns have been completely dis-
rupted, and she tried everything she could think of and whatever friends recommended. Some nights, she’s up every couple hours. Others, she crashes, usually
from complete exhaustion. It’s a roller coaster ride and she wants to get off.
“Adequate sleep is important for all
the systems in our body to function,”
says Molly Atwood, Ph.D., director of
clinical training in the behavioral sleep
medicine program at the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine. “It enables our
cognitive function across our lifespan,
including memory, concentration, attention, reaction and judgement. A lack
of sleep can contribute to or accelerate cognitive decline and dementia and
many other health risks. That’s why sleep
is so very important to our physical and
mental health.”
You are probably wondering how
much sleep you need. “There’s no consistent amount of sleep that fits everyone,” says Atwood. “We estimate the
average is seven to nine hours for healthy
adults, and when that average drops
below six hours, when we have sleep
debt, we see a stronger association with
morbidity and mortality.”
Sleep debt is what happens when
you consistently lack a full night’s sleep.
Having an occasional lack of sleep now
and then is fairly common and can last
up to a week. Recovery sleep is designed
to accommodate sleep loss. So, if you
don’t get enough sleep one night, the
next night your body will tend to compensate.
“Sometimes a short nap will help,”
Atwood explains, “and with certain professions, like long-haul drivers, physicians and airline pilots, naps are important, usually seven to nine hours after
your wake time when there is a natural
dip in our alertness. However, a nap will
not help to overcome the deleterious
effects of chronic sleep loss.”
If you do need a nap, keep it short,
under 30 minutes. Start it early in the
afternoon, no later than 3 p.m. And give
yourself time to awaken afterwards. Most
of us could use one in the afternoon.
“But,” warns the Mayo Clinic, “if you
experience insomnia or poor sleep quality at night, napping might worsen these
problems. Long or frequent naps might
interfere with nighttime sleep.”
Atwood describes how our sleep patterns change over time. “Children spend
about half their time in deep sleep. Older
adults experience less deep sleep and
more light sleep. It’s also normal for them
to wake up in the middle of the night.
Our circadian rhythms shift, so we may
be ready to sleep earlier than in the past.
“Women have a higher prevalence of
insomnia, often connected with menopausal symptoms. When a woman has
night sweats, hot flashes, she may have
difficulty falling back to sleep. Pain can
also cause insomnia as can anxiety.
Many people compensate by napping
which, in turn, weakens our normal sleep
patterns. Systems in our brains regulate
sleep, so the longer we’re awake, the
more the sleep drive says we should
Sleep, continued
on page 20
