AskDrRachel.com

Get Some Sleep!

By Rachel Franklin, M.D., “Your Family Doc”

OU Physicians Family Medicine

Many of us find ourselves burning the midnight oil to finish a project, get kids’ forgotten homework done or to wind down with a movie or TV show before going to bed.  Celebrities and business leaders in magazines brag about how little sleep they require and can make us feel inferior when we groggily read the interviews while getting ready the next morning.  Adults need at least 8-10 hours of sleep each night, and children need 10-12 hours.  The average adult gets only 6-7 hours – and boy, do we feel it!

There are many benefits to sleep.  It has been shown to improve our mental focus and memory, help children to focus in school and to grow taller and stronger, increase our tolerance for stress and reduce our risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

If we don’t get enough, we are at risk for:

• Daytime sleepiness.  Those of us who drive while sleepy are proven to be as dangerous as those who drive while drunk.  We even instituted work hours restrictions for doctors in training (80 hours per week max) years ago after studies proved that poor medical decision making – and potentially dangerous patient care - was connected to sleep deprivation.
• Weakened immune system.  The immune system is one of many in the body that is repaired only during sleep.  Have you wondered why you’re always sick? 
• Obesity.  Losing sleep is stressful to the body, which responds by increasing stress hormones that increase our blood sugar, decrease our metabolism and make us crave fat and salt.  We also eat more and are less likely to exercise in response to fatigue.
• Heart attack/stroke.  In a normal sleep/wake cycle, special hormones put us to bed and wake us up on a natural schedule.  Forcing a body to wake up too early in that cycle (by going to bed too late) increases blood pressure and the risk for an early morning attack.
• Chronic fatigue/headaches/depression/fibromyalgia.  For all of the reasons discussed above, those of us who don’t get enough sleep are at much higher risk for these conditions.

While some of us suffer from sleep disorders, from insomnia to sleep apnea, that interfere with our sleep, most of us just suffer from poor habits.  Use the bedroom only for sleep or intimacy.  Go to bed when you’re tired.  Set a regular wake time – even on the weekends.  And try to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

Please remember to email april-sandefer@ouhsc.edu or contact OU Physicians at 405-271-5067 if you have ideas you’d like to read about in this column.  Here’s to your good health!

Dr. Franklin is a board certified family medicine specialist. Her areas of special interest include preventive health and wellness and women’s and children’s health. Her advice has been featured in outlets including The Learning Channel, Parents Magazine and FitPregnancy. For an appointment with Dr. Franklin or any of the OU Physicians Family Medicine physicians, call 405-271-4311