Or why that extra hour of sleep is so good for you!
It's now becoming general knowledge that the time change in spring, or the springing forward into Daylight Savings Time (DST) is brutal on our health. In fact, that one hour loss of sleep in spring is now viewed as being part of a huge, annual social experiment whose time must come to an end.
Sleep experts and advocates look forward to the day when DST becomes a thing of the past. Many legislators, however, are erroneously pushing for DST to become the "new default time", when doing so would actually be worse for our health as a population. To explore why this is the case, read this: https://www.sleepwellblog.org/post/daylight-savings-versus-standard-time
In the meantime, enjoy this falling back into standard time... AND remember how good it feels to sleep for that extra hour.
As a society, we don't obtain enough sleep. If we were to obtain 7-9 hours of rest on a regular basis, not only would we feel better rested, we would also lower our risk of developing metabolic disease, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We would also lower our risk of developing mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Our brains would function better, thereby facilitating learning, memory, decision making, and creativity.
On the other hand, poor sleep duration in our fifties and sixties is associated with increased risk of dementia in later years. In fact, Sabia et al. (2021) state:
Here we report higher dementia risk associated with a sleep duration of six hours or less at age 50 and 60, compared with a normal (7 h) sleep duration, although this was imprecisely estimated for sleep duration at age 70 (hazard ratios (HR) 1.22 (95% confidence interval 1.01-1.48), 1.37 (1.10-1.72), and 1.24 (0.98-1.57), respectively). Persistent short sleep duration at age 50, 60, and 70 compared to persistent normal sleep duration was also associated with a 30% increased dementia risk independently of sociodemographic, behavioural, cardiometabolic, and mental health factors. These findings suggest that short sleep duration in midlife is associated with an increased risk of late-onset dementia.
If you want to sleep well, remember that lifestyle changes will be in order. Good sleep requires a consistent sleep schedule and good sleep hygiene. For three basic sleep hygiene tips, read this: https://www.sleepwellblog.org/post/sleephygienebasics-3-tipsforbettersleep
To learn more about sleep, sleep hygiene, and pro-sleep activities, sign up for a discovery sleep consultation, where we'll actually give you a sleep plan that will help you move your sleep in the right direction. Sign up now. See you there.
