In the same way that if you don’t eat, you die, if you don’t sleep in the long term it’s the same”. It is the advice and at the same time warning from the neurophysiologist and coordinator of the Spanish Sleep Society Ana Teijeira (Toledo, 1980) to emphasize the importance of sleep to live better.
What is the minimum number of hours you need to sleep?
For an adult to not have sleep debt, they should sleep approximately eight hours. Never less than seven.
Adolescents?
One more hour: nine.
And children?
Up to five years, between 10 and 13 hours. And until 12, eleven hours.
What does not sleeping well mean for health?
It is not only used to consolidate memory or remove toxins from the brain. Sleep regulates systemic functions, such as the cardiovascular system, the hormonal system, the defense system… If there is poor quality sleep, it will alter these types of functions. And it can lead to long-term illness.
What kind of diseases?
If the defense system is altered, certain types of cancer can be favored in the long term. And sleeping less than six and a half hours chronically increases the possibility of dying earlier.
Better six hours of sleep or eight and wake up?
None of the two. We prefer a continuous sleep to a fragmented one, because the next day it causes a significant feeling of tiredness. But insufficient sleep too.
Does taking a nap count towards the final count?
No. The hours of night sleep are fundamental because they are the ones that synchronize with our biorhythms. Naps will never replace a night’s sleep. And it should never exceed 20 minutes. If not, there is a high risk of making us enter a deep sleep and generating a paradoxical effect: feeling tired and wanting to sleep more.
Is there a maximum number of hours of sleep that should not be exceeded?
In adults, sleeping more than 10 and a half hours is not normal.
Because?
You may have obstructive sleep apnea or narcolepsy. People who sleep a lot chronically may have more cardiovascular risk factors in the long run. There may be an underlying sleep disorder that causes hypersomnia or excessive sleepiness, as is sometimes the case with depressive disorders or hypothyroidism. A person who sleeps excessively should always be studied.
What should I do if I wake up and can’t go back to sleep?
Get out of bed and do relaxing activities: read a book, take an infusion and try to keep your mind clear, and when a little sleepiness arises, go back to bed.
Stress is increasingly common and affects sleep. Do you have more questions?
Yes. There is a two-way relationship between mood changes, whether anxiety or depressive symptoms, and poor sleep quality or insomnia. And it’s a problem because it forms a kind of vicious circle.
When should you be scared?
When I usually start to notice that I don’t get enough sleep. Or is there something that disturbs my sleep. Or if I have an excess of nightmares without knowing why. Or if I move excessively in bed and this makes me feel very tired the next day. If I snore and they tell me I stop breathing.
Do the experts talk about sleep hygiene? What is?
Schedule regularity, which is very important for our circadian rhythm to work well. You should avoid doing intense physical or cognitive activities, such as studying or working, two or three hours before going to sleep. The two hours before going to bed you should try to be more relaxed, with less intense light… This promotes relaxation and the brain will understand that it is time to sleep.
Are there prohibited and also indicated foods?
The Mediterranean diet is very suitable. You need to have dinner a couple of hours before going to bed to be able to digest well and that dinners are not too fatty, spicy or acidic. You must avoid the ounce of chocolate at night. And nicotine. On the contrary, there are foods such as bananas that contain tryptophan that can promote the formation of substances at the brain level that promote sleep.
Should sleeping medication be the last option?
Yes. Pharmacological treatments must be planned by a professional and the dose must be as low as possible and for as little time as possible because the medications are not without side effects that can alter memory and cause drowsiness.
The use of screens in teenagers is also a concern…
We know that there is a very high percentage of teenagers who use screens in bed before falling asleep. Even with all the lights off they put the cell phone very close to their face. And the light intensity will make it very difficult for them to fall asleep. There is also a high percentage of teenagers who sleep with their mobile phone under their pillow and are woken up by social network alarms, so that sleep is disrupted. This worries us a lot. But adults must set an example.
What are the consequences of not sleeping for a teenager?
It can cause memory consolidation problems. He will have problems in the study and may worsen his academic performance. This will cause him more anxiety and generate the vicious circle of “I sleep worse because I have anxiety”. And you can develop a sleep disease, such as technological insomnia.
Technological insomnia?
Yes, it’s a concept that’s not in sleep classifications, but we use it a lot to talk about insomnia resulting from the chronic misuse of screens throughout the night.
Mobile phone out of the room to sleep?
It would be ideal. Two hours before going to sleep, all screen use should be eliminated. We must try to avoid the habit that more and more young people have that the mobile phone is the last tool they use before going to bed.
