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However, adequate sleep is crucial to proper brain function - no less so than air, water, and food - but stress can modify sleep-wakefulness cycles. Researchers have found that metabolic and endocrine changes resulting from a significant sleep debt mimic many of the hallmarks of aging. Chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and memory loss.
Sleep researchers have discovered that the brain needs time to erase or sift through the events of the day, just like a computer needs to clean its hard drive to create space for the next day's events. Often, the nighttime is the only time some allow for this needed activity. So instead of sleeping, a stressed brain seems to race as it goes over the stressful events of the day. Obviously, finding time and using effective methods for relieving stress is the best way to improve healthy sleep
The most important thing to remember about relieving stress is that our bodies need time to work out the effects of stress. Although it is not possible to control every factor that contributes to stress, it is possible to get the sleep we need so that we feel less cranky and more productive the following day. A consistent regimen is critical in this situation because it creates an expectation of stress release. Effective strategies include:
• Scheduling time to work through the stress and finding ways to eliminate problems so they don't arise when you're trying to sleep. Try to deal with worries and distractions several hours before bedtime.
• Meditating before going to bed
• Engaging in daily exercise (but not 4 hours before bedtime)
• Avoiding caffeine and other stimulants before bedtime
• Avoiding alcohol within 4 hours of bedtime as alcohol interrupts and fragments sleep
• Taking warm bath and listening to relaxing music before bedtime
• Avoiding watching TV before bedtime
• Keeping regular sleep hours. Keep your biological check by going to bed around the same time each night and waking up close to the same time each morning -- even on weekends.
About the author: Mahmood I. Siddique, D.O., FACP, FCCP, FAASM is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Medical Director of the SleepCare Center at RWJ Hamilton. He is also the President of the Institute for Sleep and Lung Diseases. He is board certified in Internal, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. He has received multiple “Excellence in Teaching” awards at RWJ Medical School. He was selected to be on the peer-nominated Best Doctors list in Better Living magazine in NJ. He is also co-author of the book, “How to Turn Anger into Love” (www.HowToTurnAngerIntoLove.com). He can be reached at: (609)587-9944; www.sleephealthdoc.com. (WHF Special Report 2007)
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