Sleep is a naturally recurring altered state of consciousness with relatively suspended sensory and motor activity, characterized by the inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles.[1] It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, but it is more easily reversible than hibernation or coma. Sleep is a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially clear and are the subject of intense research.
Hours by age
Children need more sleep per day in order to develop and function properly: up to 18 hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as a child ages.[13] A newborn baby spends almost 9 hours a day in REM sleep. By the age of five or so, only slightly over two hours is spent in REM.[28]
Age and condition Average amount of sleep per day
Newborn up to 18 hours
1–12 months 14–18 hours
1–3 years 12–15 hours
3–5 years 11–13 hours
5–12 years 9–11 hours
Adolescents 9–10 hours[29]
Adults, including elderly 7–8(+) hours
Pregnant women 8(+) hours
Sleep debt
Main article: Sleep debt
Sleep debt is the effect of not getting enough rest and sleep; a large debt causes mental, emotional, and physical fatigue.
Sleep debt results in diminished abilities to perform high-level cognitive functions. Neurophysiological and functional imaging studies have demonstrated that frontal regions of the brain are particularly responsive to homeostatic sleep pressure.[30]
Scientists do not agree on how much sleep debt it is possible to accumulate; whether it is accumulated against an individual's average sleep or some other benchmark; nor on whether the prevalence of sleep debt among adults has changed appreciably in the industrialized world in recent decades. It is likely that children are sleeping less than previously in Western societies.[31]
Sleep position gives personality clue
If you want an insight into somebody's true personality, then try to catch a glimpse of the way they sleep.
Scientists believe the position in which a person goes to sleep provides an important clue about the kind of person they are.
Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, has analysed six common sleeping positions - and found that each is linked to a particular personality type.
"We are all aware of our body language when we are awake but this is the first time we have been able to see what our subconscious posture says about us.
"What's interesting is that the profile behind the posture is often very different from what we would expect."
To see the six positions studied by Professor Idzikowski click here.
•The Foetus: Those who curl up in the foetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax.
This is the most common sleeping position, adopted by 41% of the 1,000 people who took part in the survey. More than twice as many women as men tend to adopt this position.
•Log (15%): Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible.
•The yearner (13%): People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it.
•Soldier (8%): Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don't like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards.
•Freefall (7%): Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations.
•Starfish (5%): Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the centre of attention.
The remainder of those in the poll said the position they fell asleep varied or did not know.
Health effect
Professor Idzikowski also examined the effect of various sleeping positions on health.
He concluded that the freefall position was good for digestion, while the starfish and soldier positions were more likely to lead to snoring and a bad night's sleep.
Professor Idzikowski said: "Lying down flat means that stomach contents can more readily be worked back up into the mouth, while those who lie on their back may end up snoring and breathing less well during the night.
"Both these postures may not necessarily awaken the sleeper but could cause a less refreshing night's sleep."
The research also found that most people are unlikely to change their sleeping position. Just 5% said they sleep in a different position every night.
Duvet position
Professor Idzikowski also found that one arm or leg sticking out of the duvet is Britain's most common position, followed by both feet poking out the end.
One in ten people like to cover themselves entirely with the duvet.
When you’re scrambling to meet the demands of modern life, cutting back on sleep can seem like the only answer. How else are you going to get through your neverending to-do list or make time for a little fun? Sure, a solid eight hours sounds great, but who can afford to spend so much time sleeping? The truth is you can’t afford not to.
Sleep consists of a series of distinct cycles and stages that restore and refresh your body and mind. Even minimal sleep loss takes a toll on your mood, energy, efficiency, and ability to handle stress. If you want to feel your best, stay healthy, and perform up to your potential, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury. Learn what happens when you’re sleeping, how to determine your nightly sleep needs, and what you can do to bounce back from chronic sleep loss and get on a healthy sleep schedule.
In This Article:
The power of sleep
How many hours do you need?
Sleep deprivation and lack of sleep
Stages of sleep
The sleep cycle
Deep sleep and REM sleep
Paying off your sleep debt
Related links
Print Authors
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The power of sleep
Many of us want to sleep as little as possible—or feel like we have to. There are so many things that seem more interesting or important than getting a few more hours of sleep. But just as exercise and nutrition are essential for optimal health and happiness, so is sleep. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your waking life, including your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!
Understanding sleep
Sleep isn’t merely a time when your body and brain shut off. While you rest, your brain stays busy, overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance tasks that keep you running in top condition and prepare you for the day ahead. Without enough hours of restorative sleep, you’re like a car in need of an oil change. You won’t be able to work, learn, create, and communicate at a level even close to your true potential. Regularly skimp on “service” and you’re headed for a major mental and physical breakdown.
The good news is that you don’t have to choose between health and productivity. As you start getting the sleep you need, your energy and efficiency will go up. In fact, you’re likely to find that you actually get more done during the day than when you were skimping on shuteye.
Myths and Facts about Sleep
Myth 1: Getting just 1 hour less sleep per night won’t effect your daytime functioning. You may not be noticeably sleepy during the day. But even slightly less sleep can affect your ability to think properly and respond quickly, and compromise your cardiovascular health, energy balance, and ability to fight infections.
Myth 2: Your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules. Most people can reset their biological clock, but only by appropriately timed cues—and even then, by 1–2 hours per day at best. Consequently, it can take more than a week to adjust after traveling across several time zones or switching to the night shift.
Myth 3: Extra sleep at night can cure you of problems with excessive daytime fatigue. Not only is the quantity of sleep important but also the quality of sleep. Some people sleep 8 or 9 hours a night but don’t feel well rested when they wake up because the quality of their sleep is poor.
Myth 4: You can make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekends. Although this sleeping pattern will help relieve part of a sleep debt, it will not completely make up for the lack of sleep. Furthermore, sleeping later on the weekends can affect your biological clock so that it is much harder to go to sleep at the right time on Sunday nights and get up early on Monday mornings.
Adapted from Your Guide to Healthy Sleep (PDF) - The National Institutes of Health
How many hours of sleep do you need?
Average Sleep Needs
Age Hours
Newborns (0-2 months)
12 - 18
Infants (3 months to 1 year)
14 - 15
Toddlers (1 to 3 years)
12 - 14
Preschoolers (3 to 5 years)
11 - 13
School-aged children (5 to 12 years)
10 - 11
Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years)
8.5 - 10
Adults (18+)
7.5 - 9
According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult sleeps less than 7 hours per night. In today’s fast-paced society, 6 or 7 hours of sleep may sound pretty good. In reality, it’s a recipe for chronic sleep deprivation.
While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need between 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep per night to function at their best. Children and teens need even more (see box at right). And despite the notion that sleep needs decrease with age, older people still need at least 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep. Since older adults often have trouble sleeping this long at night, daytime naps can help fill in the gap.
Sleep needs and peak performance
There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you’re able to operate on 7 hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed. The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime.
Think six hours of sleep is enough?
Think again. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that some people have a gene that enables them to do well on 6 hours of sleep a night. But the gene is very rare, appearing in less than 3% of the population. For the other 97% of us, six hours doesn’t come close to cutting it.
Signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation and lack of sleep
If you’re getting less than eight hours of sleep each night, chances are you’re sleep deprived. What’s more, you probably have no idea just how much lack of sleep is affecting you.
How is it possible to be sleep deprived without knowing it? Most of the signs of sleep deprivation are much more subtle than falling face first into your dinner plate. Furthermore, if you’ve made a habit of skimping on sleep, you may not even remember what it feels like to be wide-awake, fully alert, and firing on all cylinders. It feels normal to get sleepy when you’re in a boring meeting, struggle through the afternoon slump, or doze off after dinner. But the truth is that it’s only “normal” if you’re sleep deprived.
You may be sleep deprived if you...
Need an alarm clock in order to wake up on time.
Rely on the snooze button.
Have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.
Feel sluggish in the afternoon.
Get sleepy in meetings, lectures, or warm rooms.
Get drowsy after heavy meals or when driving.
Need to nap to get through the day.
Fall asleep while watching TV or relaxing in the evening.
Feel the need to sleep in on weekends.
Fall asleep within five minutes of going to bed.
While it may seem like losing sleep isn’t such a big deal, sleep deprivation has a wide range of negative effects that go way beyond daytime drowsiness.
The effects of sleep deprivation and chronic lack of sleep
Fatigue, lethargy, and lack of motivation
Moodiness and irritability
Reduced creativity and problem-solving skills
Inability to cope with stress
Reduced immunity; frequent colds and infections
Concentration and memory problems
Weight gain
Impaired motor skills and increased risk of accidents
Difficulty making decisions
Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems
Is lack of sleep affecting your performance?
Lack of sleep affects your judgment, coordination, and reaction times. In fact, sleep deprivation can affect you just as much as being drunk. The BBC has a fun test to help you determine if lack of sleep is affecting your performance.
Try the Sheep Dash test and see how well rested you really are.
Stages of sleep: REM sleep and non-REM sleep stages
All sleep is not created equal. Sleep unfolds in a series of recurring sleep stages that are very different from one another in terms of what’s happening beneath the surface. From deep sleep to dreaming sleep, they are all vital for your body and mind. Each stage of sleep plays a different part in preparing you for the day ahead.
There are two main types of sleep:
Non-REM (NREM) sleep consists of four stages of sleep, each deeper than the last.
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is when you do most active dreaming. Your eyes actually move back and forth during this stage, which is why it is called Rapid Eye Movement sleep.
The Stages of Sleep
Non-REM sleep
Stage 1 (Transition to sleep) – Stage 1 lasts about five minutes. Eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.
Stage 2 (Light sleep) – This is the first stage of true sleep, lasting from 10 to 25 minutes. Eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
Stage 3 (Deep sleep) – You’re difficult to awaken, and if you are awakened, you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes.
Stage 4 (More intense deep sleep) – The deepest stage of sleep. Brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from the brain and towards the muscles, restoring physical energy.
REM sleep
REM sleep (Dream sleep) – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Eyes move rapidly. Breathing is shallow. Heart rate and blood pressure increase. Arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.
The sleep cycle: Understanding the architecture of sleep
You may think that once you go to bed, you soon fall into a deep sleep that lasts for most of the night, progressing back into light sleep in the morning when it’s time to wake up. In reality, the sleep cycle is a lot more complicated.
When you chart the sleep stages over the course of the night, the result looks like a city skyline—which is why it is called "sleep architecture"
During the night, your sleep follows a predictable pattern, moving back and forth between deep restorative sleep (deep sleep) and more alert stages and dreaming (REM sleep). Together, the stages of REM and non-REM sleep form a complete sleep cycle that repeats until you wake up.
The amount of time you spend in each stage of sleep changes as the night progresses. For example, most deep sleep occurs in the first half of the night. Later in the night, your REM sleep stages become longer, alternating with light Stage 2 sleep. This is why if you are sensitive to waking up in the middle of the night, it is probably in the early morning hours, not immediately after going to bed.
Having a hard time getting up? Take advantage of the 90-minute sleep cycle.
Even if you’ve enjoyed a full night’s sleep, getting out of bed isn’t easy if your alarm goes off when you’re in the middle of the deeper stages of sleep (especially stages 3 and 4). If you want to make mornings less painful, set a wake-up time that’s a multiple of 90 minutes, the length of the average sleep cycle. For example, if you go to bed at 10 p.m., set your alarm for 5:30 (a total of 7 ½ hours of sleep) instead of 6:00 or 6:30. You’ll feel more refreshed at 5:30 than you will with another 30 to 60 minutes of sleep, because you’re getting up when your body and brain are already close to wakefulness.
The importance of deep sleep and REM sleep
Getting good, restorative sleep is not just a matter of spending enough hours in bed. The amount of time you spend in each of the stages of sleep matters. A normal adult spends approximately 50 percent of total sleep time in stage 2 sleep, 20 percent in REM sleep, and 30 percent in the remaining stages, including deep sleep.
Each stage of sleep in the sleep cycle offers benefits to the sleeper. However, deep sleep (stages 3 and 4) and REM sleep are particularly important.
Deep sleep
The most damaging effects of sleep deprivation are from inadequate deep sleep. Deep sleep is a time when the body repairs itself and builds up energy for the day ahead. It plays a major role in maintaining your health, stimulating growth and development, repairing muscles and tissues, and boosting your immune system. In order to wake up energized and refreshed, getting quality deep sleep is key. Factors that can lead to poor or inadequate deep sleep include:
Being woken during the night (by outside noise, for example, or in order to care for a crying baby)
Working night shifts or swing shifts. Getting quality deep sleep during the day can be difficult, due to light and excess noise.
Smoking or drinking in the evening. Substances like alcohol and nicotine can disrupt deep sleep. It’s best to limit them before bed.
REM sleep
Just as deep sleep renews the body, REM sleep renews the mind. REM sleep plays a key role in learning and memory. During REM sleep, your brain consolidates and processes the information you’ve learned during the day, forms neural connections that strengthen memory, and replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, including feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that boost your mood during the day.
To get more mind and mood-boosting REM sleep, try sleeping an extra 30 minutes to an hour in the morning, when REM sleep stages are longer. Improving your overall sleep will also increase your REM sleep. If you aren’t getting enough deep sleep, your body will try to make it up first, at the expense of REM sleep.
Tips for getting good sleep, night after night
Do you feel like no matter how much you sleep, you still wake up exhausted? Learn how to maximize your sleep quality and sleep well every night by following a regular sleep-wake schedule, developing a relaxing bedtime routine, and improving your sleep environment.
Read: Tips for Getting Better Sleep: How to Sleep Well Every Night
Paying off your sleep debt
Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you need and the hours you actually get. Every time you sacrifice on sleep, you add to the debt. Eventually, the debt will have to be repaid. It won’t go away on its own. If you lose an hour of sleep, you must make up that extra hour somewhere down the line in order to bring your “account” back into balance.
Sleeping in on the weekends isn’t enough!
Many of us try to repay our sleep debt by sleeping in on the weekends. But as it turns out, bouncing back from chronic lack of sleep isn’t that easy. One or two solid nights of sleep aren’t enough to pay off a long-term debt. While extra sleep can give you a temporary boost (for example, you may feel great on Monday morning after a relaxing weekend), your performance and energy will drop back down as the day wears on.
Tips for getting and staying out of sleep debt
While you can’t pay off sleep debt in a night or even a weekend, with a little effort and planning, you can get back on track.
Aim for at least 8 hours of sleep every night. Make sure you don’t fall farther in debt by blocking off a minimum of 8 hours for sleep each night. Consistency is the key.
Settle short-term sleep debt with an extra hour or two per night. If you lost 10 hours of sleep, pay the debt back in nightly one or two-hour installments.
Keep a sleep diary. Record when you go to bed, when you get up, your total hours of sleep, and how you feel during the day. As you keep track of your sleep, you’ll discover your natural patterns and get to know your sleep needs. Click here to download Helpguide’s sleep diary.
Take a sleep vacation to pay off a long-term sleep debt. Pick a two-week period when you have a flexible schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and allow yourself to sleep until you wake up naturally. No alarm clocks! If you continue to keep the same bedtime and wake up naturally, you’ll eventually dig your way out of debt and arrive at the sleep schedule that’s ideal for you.
Make sleep a priority. Just as you schedule time for work and other commitments, you should schedule enough time for sleep. Instead of cutting back on sleep in order to tackle the rest of your daily tasks, put sleep at the top of your to-do list.
Why are doctors reluctant to prescribe sleeping tablets?
A perfect sleeping tablet would cause sleep, but have no possible problems. Unfortunately, there is no perfect sleeping tablet. Possible problems when taking sleeping tablets include the following:.
•Drowsiness the next day. You may not be safe to drive or to operate machinery.
•Clumsiness, drowsiness, and confusion in the night if you have to get up. For example, you may fall over and injure yourself if you get up in the night to go to the toilet. Some people have fallen down stairs due to the drowsy effect of sleeping tablets. (Older people who take sleeping tablets have an increased risk of breaking their hip, as the result of a fall.)
•Tolerance. With benzodiazepines and Z drug sleeping tablets (see below), if you take them each night, your body becomes used to them. This means that, in time, the usual dose has no effect. You then need a higher dose for it to work. In time, the higher dose does not work, and you need an even higher dose, and so on. It only takes between 3-14 days of continued use to become 'tolerant' to a benzodiazepine or Z drug sleeping tablet.
•Dependence. Some people become dependent (addicted) to benzodiazepines or Z drugs. This means that withdrawal symptoms occur if the tablets are stopped suddenly. Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, shaking, or just feeling awful.
.Are there different types of sleeping tablet?
.Benzodiazepines and Z drugs
Benzodiazepines include temazepam, flurazepam, loprazolam, lormetazepam, and nitrazepam. They are sometimes used as sleeping tablets. They are only available on prescription. Other related drugs called zaleplon, zolpidem, and zopiclone are also sleeping tablets, but strictly speaking are not benzodiazepines. They are known as the Z drugs. However, they act in a similar way (they have a similar effect on the brain cells as benzodiazepines)..
.Antihistamines
These drugs are commonly used to treat allergies such as hay fever. However, drowsiness is a side-effect of some antihistamines, for example, promethazine. This 'side-effect' is useful in some people who have difficulty sleeping with their allergy. An antihistamine is the active ingredient of some sleeping tablets that you can buy from pharmacies without a prescription. Antihistamines are not as powerful as benzodiazepines or Z drugs at causing sleep. Also, they may cause a 'hangover' effect and some drowsiness in the morning. They may also cause rebound insomnia if you take them for a long time. For these reasons, current UK guidelines do not advise the use of antihistamines to be used solely as a sleeping tablet..
.Melatonin
Melatonin is, strictly speaking, not a 'sleeping tablet'. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone made by the body. The level of melatonin in the body varies throughout the day. It is involved in helping to regulate the 'circadian rhythms' (daily cycles) of various functions in the body. A melatonin supplement is sometimes advised in older people (more than 55 years of age) with persistent insomnia. The recommended duration of treatment is for three weeks only..
.Other drugs
Chlormethiazole, chloral, and barbiturates are old fashioned sleeping tablets. They are not commonly used these days as benzodiazepines and Z drugs are usually preferred..
.What is the alternative to sleeping tablets?
Your doctor or nurse may give you advice on how to tackle poor sleep naturally. See separate leaflet called 'Sleep Problems - A Self Help Guide' which gives advice on how to sleep better..
.If a sleeping tablet is prescribed
If your doctor prescribes you a benzodiazepine or Z drug as a sleeping tablet, it will usually be only for a short time (a week or so). This is to help you get over a particularly bad patch. Sometimes a doctor will advise sleeping tablets to be taken on only 2 or 3 nights per week, rather than on every night. This prevents tolerance or dependence to the tablet from developing..
.What if I am already taking a sleeping tablet regularly?
For various reasons, some people have become used to taking a benzodiazepine or Z drug sleeping tablet every night. As a rule, if you are taking one of these sleeping tablets each night, you should consider reducing or stopping them. However, in some people, problems of tolerance or dependence (see above) mean that it can be difficult to stop the tablet suddenly.
If you want to reduce or stop benzodiazepine or Z drug sleeping tablets, it is best to consult a doctor or nurse for advice. The sort of advice may include the following:.
•Do it gradually, and cut the dose down a little at a time. A switch to a different benzodiazepine (diazepam) may be advised. This is because it is easier to gradually reduce the dose of diazepam than with other benzodiazepines or Z drugs.
•It is best to wait until any life crisis has passed, and your level of stress is as low as can be.
•Consider stopping the tablets whilst on holiday, when you have less pressure from work, family, etc.
•You are likely to have a period of worse sleep when you stop the tablets. Try to anticipate and accept this.
•Advice on coping strategies, and tips on how to naturally improve your sleep pattern.
See separate leaflet called 'Stopping Benzodiazepines and Z Drugs' gives more details. However, stopping benzodiazepine or Z drug sleeping tablets is not practical in every case.
Many medical conditions may lead to a disruption of sleep, or an excessive amount of daytime sleepiness, and are called sleep disorders. These may be caused by physiological or psychological factors. Some of the more common sleep disorders include:
Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Snoring may seem benign, but it may represent a difficulty in keeping the throat open while one sleeps. Its more serious companion, sleep apnea, is a chronic medical condition where the affected person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep. These episodes last 10 seconds or more and cause oxygen levels in the blood to drop. It can be caused by obstruction of the upper airway, resulting in obstructive sleep apnea, or by a failure of the brain to initiate a breath, called central sleep apnea. It can cause and worsen other medical conditions, including hypertension, heart failure, and diabetes.
Insomnia
Insomnia is an inability to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep to feel rested and can be characterized either by difficulty falling or staying asleep. It is the most common sleep disorder, with many potential causes. One of the sub-types is acute insomnia and a rare type that runs in families may even be fatal.
Parasomnias
From the Latin meaning "around sleep," parasomnias are a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal sleep behaviors. Parasomnias involve unconscious complex, semi-purposeful, and goal-directed behaviors that have meaning or importance to the individual. These can include sleep terrors, sleepwalking, sleep eating, sleep sex, rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder, or any number of potential behaviors that occur while the person remains asleep.
Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is characterized by a temporary inability to move while transitioning from sleep to wakefulness, such as when falling asleep or waking up. It may be frightening as one may seem to be awake, but unable to move. It is common, but may also be a symptom of narcolepsy.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome is a neurological movement disorder characterized by unpleasant feelings in the legs associated with a need to move. These sensations may include aches, burning, tingling, or the feeling of bugs crawling on the legs. These symptoms may occur at rest or at night making it hard to fall or stay asleep. RLS has many potential causes, including iron deficiency, pregnancy, and obesity. It may be associated with periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS)
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
25% of the UK population suffer some form of sleep disorder that results in excessive daytime sleepiness.
Explained below are some of the common disorders keeping us awake at night: snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome.
Snoring
In a survey by the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, 54% of people have had their holidays adversely affected by snoring and 20% have been banished to the bathroom because of the noise.
It is not only an embarrassment for sufferers but a test of endurance for family and friends.
What is snoring?
Snoring affects around 3.5 million people in the UK. It is an anatomy problem involving the soft tissue at the back of the throat and causes the emission of sound from the airway during sleep.
What causes snoring?
Snoring occurs when the soft palate tissue at the back of the throat relaxes too much, obstructing the entrance to the throat. As air tries to pass through, the soft palate vibrates and produces the snoring sound.
The problem may get worse with age but one of the main causes is size and body shape. People with short wide necks are most prone to snoring because the muscles around their windpipe can't support the fat around it when the person is asleep. As a general rule, anyone with a collar size of 16.5 inches or more is likely to snore.
Other snorers may have:
poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. Muscles that are too relaxed contribute to snoring.
large throat tissue. Children with large tonsils often snore.
obstructed nasal passageway. People with stuffy or blocked noses often snore.
Can snoring be treated?
In 99% of cases, snoring is treatable. Weight is usually the main cause of snoring so shedding excess fat around the neck will stop extra pressure being put on the airways. Other treatments depend on diagnosis so an examination by a doctor will be useful. Also consider these self-help remedies:
Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol before bedtime. These relax the very same muscles that cause snoring and also dehydrates the body, leaving nasal passages blocked up.
Avoid heavy meals at least four hours before bedtime.
Sleep on your side rather than your back. When you sleep on your back, your tongue falls backwards into your throat which can narrow your airway and partly block airflow. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top. This will certainly stop you from sleeping on your back!
Humidify the air in the bedroom and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil into the pillowcase to help clear the nose.
Exercise. This will improve muscle strength and promote weight loss.
One woman's struggle with her husband's snoring
Sleep apnoea
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea owes its meaning to the Greek word apnea, meaning 'want of breath' and this condition affects the sleep of around 180,000 people in the UK.
What causes sleep apnoea?
Apnoea is caused by the same muscles that cause snoring. It occurs when the muscles of the soft palate at the base of the tongue and the uvula (the small fleshy piece of tissue hanging back of the throat) relax, partially blocking the opening of the airway. However, sleep apnoea is more dangerous than snoring in that it alters normal breathing patterns.
While asleep, suffers may stop breathing for between 10 to 25 seconds at a time, depleting the bloodstream and brain of vital oxygen supplies. The brain then suddenly sends an emergency signal, telling the person to wake up and take in a big gulp of air. In one single night, suffers may experience up to 350 'apneic events' and usually find themselves waking up sweaty, with a dry mouth and headache. The frequent interruptions of deep sleep leads to excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness.
Can sleep apnoea be treated?
Sleep apnoea is a potentially life-threatening condition associated with strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure and therefore requires medical attention.
A sleep test called 'polysomnography' is usually carried out to diagnose sleep apnoea. Treatment varies according to severity of symptoms. Mild cases can be effectively treated through behavioural changes - losing weight, cutting down on alcohol or sleeping on your side, for example.
More severe cases may be treated with a CPAP machine, so named because they maintain constant positive air pressure to the wind pipe to help users breathe easy at night. The benefits are better sleep and reduced risk of heart attacks during the night.
Dr Rob Hicks on obstructive sleep apnoea
Insomnia
What is insomnia?
One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.
What causes insomnia?
There's no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:
People aged over sixty
Females
Those with a history of depression
Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one's sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.
Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.
Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play - too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.
Can insomnia be treated?
Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.
One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you're worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night's sleep.
Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you'll achieve the perfect slumber.
Some useful complementary medicine remedies for insomnia
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)
What is RLS?
Around 5.6% of the UK population suffer from restless leg syndrome, which causes a tingling, itching sensation and unexplained aches and pains in the lower limbs.
Sleep is disturbed because people often have a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the discomfort by stretching, rubbing the legs or getting up and pacing around.
What causes RLS?
It may be inherited. It occurs three to five times more frequently in first-degree relatives of RLS sufferers. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may worsen the symptoms. Other cases of RLS are associated with iron deficiency or nerve damage in the legs.
Can RLS be treated?
In mild cases, it might be just a matter of cutting out caffeine and alcohol, both of which aggravate the symptoms. Having a warm bath, massaging the legs or using a heat or cold pack will also help to alleviate the symptoms.
For more severe cases, there are a number of pharmacological treatments. Consult your doctor for further advice.
Getting enough sleep is vital for health and productivity. ©iStockphoto.com
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Why A Power Nap? Facts on Sleep:
While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, even in those who get enough sleep (but particularly in those who don’t), many people experience a natural increase in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a ‘power nap’, means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you!
How Much Sleep Do You Need? The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep--more than 9 hours--can actuallybe harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than 9 hours per day don’t live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)
The Effects of Missed Sleep: Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’, which impairs the following:
•Reaction time
•Judgment
•Vision
•Information processing
•Short-term memory
•Performance
•Motivation
•Vigilance
•Patience
Fatigued people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout and more stress.
The Benefit of a Power Nap: Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.
How Long Should I Sleep? When you sleep you pass through different stages of sleep, known together as a sleep cycle. These stages include light sleep, deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and rapid-eye movement sleep, or REM sleep (during which the mind is repaired).
Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken. Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night, especially if your sleep deficit is relatively small. However, research has shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap, including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. The key to taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are, and try to awaken at the end of a sleep cycle. (It’s actually more the interruption of the sleep cycle that makes you groggy, rather than the deeper states of sleep.)
As there are pros and cons to each length of sleep, you may want to let your schedule decide: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! But if you could work in an hour nap, you may do well to complete a whole sleep cycle, even if it means less sleep at night. If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just close your eyes; even a brief rest has the benefit of reducing stress and helping you relax a little, which can give you more energy to complete the tasks of your day.
Tips For a More Effective Nap If you want to obtain more sleep, and the health benefits that go with getting enough sleep, here are some tips for more effective napping and sleep at night:
•Avoid caffeine after 3pm. It’s a stimulant that can disrupt your sleep and stay in your system longer than you think; its half-life is four to six hours!
•If you don’t want to nap a long time, set an alarm.
•If you don’t have time for a power nap, or don’t feel comfortable napping during the day, try meditation; it gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves similar to sleep.
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