― H E A L T H ―
― H E A L T H ―
Do you know how many hours sleep you need? Individuals who don’t get enough sleep for a long period of time can build up a sleep debt that can’t be wiped out in a single weekend. According to Esther, “if sleep pressure continually builds up, people forget what it real- ly feels like to be awake.” This can have serious conse- quences. “Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to take risks. During the day, a sleep deficit is easy to cope with, but at night, monotonous activities such as driving a car can cause drowsiness and serious accidents. In the longer term, a lack of sleep can also contribute to mental illnesses such as burnout and depression,” explains Esther Werth. “A good way of finding out how much sleep our bodies really need is to observe our sleep needs during long holidays,” she adds. Identify the root causes of sleep disorders be- fore taking action For patients who have persistent difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep, Esther Werth recommends sleep training as the best therapy: “we help patients learn how to sleep using cognitive behavioural therapy. The programme is tailored to each individual and includes relaxation exercises, adjusting the amount of time in bed, and other behavioural changes. Sleep medicine has identified over 70 different known sleep disorders. Two of these are sleep apnoea and restless legs syndrome. To take action, you have to start by identifying the cause of poor sleep. In a few cases, we prescribe medication, but we’re highly selective in this respect and don’t re- commend the usual sleeping pills.” How many hours sleep we need varies over the course of a lifetime Sleep changes over the course of our lives. Babies have polyphasic sleep patterns that gradually develop into a long sleep at night and a nap at lunchtime. Teenagers sleep late in the mornings, whereas the elderly find it more difficult to do so. On the topic of older people’s sleep, Esther Werth explains: “A 70-year-old cannot hope to have the same sleep patterns as a 20-year-old. The amount of sleep decreases, perhaps by as much as an hour. As we get older we sleep more lightly, too; we have to go to the toilet more often, and we find it more difficult to achieve deep sleep; that alters our perception of sleep. On the other hand we enjoy an afternoon nap more. The use of sleeping pills tends to increase with age, too.” There are exercises to achieve better sleep at this stage in life, too. Esther Werth again: “A lot of elderly
people go to bed too early and want to sleep for too long. Since the body doesn’t need a lot of sleep, it divides up sleep through the night, interspersing it with periods awake. That’s why we also recommended adjusting your bed-time in such cases.” Relax your body – and your mind In the end, a lot is down to our minds, says Esther Werth: “Simply going to bed thinking that it’s going to be hard to get to sleep is bound to make you sleep less well. That kind of tension also means that if you do wake up in the night you release adrenalin, and that stops you getting back to sleep – whereas if an individual who is fully re- laxed wakes during the night, they’ll simply turn over and go back to sleep,” concludes Dr Esther Werth. THE SECRET OF ELITE MATTRESSES Your mattress plays a major role in the quality of your sleep by reducing the number of unwanted microarousals. Elite mattresses allow you to reach the deep sleep cycle, when the body relaxes completely and the brain is refreshed, and stay there for longer. The manufacture of Elite mattresses is based on three fundamental criteria: comfort, back support and heat regulation. A mattress to suit your body shape must get rid of pressure on protruding points whilst also providing dynamic support for your body and optimum alignment of the spine. With the natural fillings we use, temperature can be regulated and surplus humidity removed, creating a healthy, moisture- free environment.
BIOGRAPHY: Dr Esther Werth studied behavioural biology and neurobiology at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. She was awarded a PhD in research on sleep and moved on from pure research to sleep medicine. For over 20 years, she has been working in this field both clinically and scientifically, and now heads up the Neurology Clinic sleep laboratory at the University Hospital of Zurich. She is also a member of the executive committee of the ‘Sleep and Health’ university skill centre in Zurich.
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