This article is part 1 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Think of everything you do during your day. Try to guess which activity is so important you should devote one-third of your time to doing it. Probably the first things that come to mind are working, spending time with your family, or pursuing leisure activities. But [...]
This article is part 2 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Sleep was long considered just a uniform block of time when you are not awake. Thanks to sleep studies done over the past several decades, it is now known that sleep has distinct stages that cycle throughout the night in predictable patterns. How well rested you [...]
This article is part 3 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Although you may put off going to sleep in order to squeeze more activities into your day, eventually your need for sleep becomes overwhelming and you are forced to get some sleep. This daily drive for sleep appears to be due, in part, to a compound [...]
This article is part 4 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Eastward travel generally causes more severe jet lag than westward travel because traveling east requires you to shorten the day, and your biological clock is better able to adjust to a longer day than a shorter day. Fortunately for globetrotters, a few preventive measures and treatments [...]
This article is part 5 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Most people are aware of the hazards of drunk driving. But driving while sleepy can be just as dangerous. Indeed, crashes due to sleepy drivers are as deadly as those due to drivers impaired by alcohol. And you don’t have to be asleep at the wheel [...]
This article is part 6 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
A number of tasks vital to health and quality of life are linked to sleep, and these tasks are impaired when you are sleep deprived.
Learning, Memory, and Mood
Students who have trouble grasping new information or learning new skills are often advised to “sleep on it,” [...]
This article is part 7 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Myth 1: Sleep is a time when your body and brain shut down for rest and relaxation.
No evidence shows that any major organ (including the brain) or regulatory system in the body shuts down during sleep. Some physiological processes actually become more active while you [...]
This article is part 8 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Animal studies suggest that sleep is as vital as food for survival. Rats, for example, normally live 2–3 years, but they live only 5 weeks if they are deprived of REM sleep and only 2–3 weeks if they are deprived of all sleep stages—a timeframe similar [...]
This article is part 9 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Stick to a sleep schedule.
Go to bed and wake up the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to altered sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for the lack of sleep during the week [...]
This article is part 10 of Healthy Sleep Guide.
Many factors can prevent a good night’s sleep. These factors range from well-known stimulants, such as coffee, to certain pain relievers, decongestants, and other culprits. Many people depend on the caffeine in coffee, soft drinks (for example, colas), or tea to wake them up in the [...]
