Sleep Benefits and Sleep Deprivation Risks

How much sleep do Boomers really need?

You may have grown up being told that eight is the magic number for the hours of sleep you need each night. It turns out there is no absolute number of hours. Everyone requires more or less sleep depending on a variety of factors including your individual makeup as well as your lifestyle. What counts is that you are getting enough sleep for your body and mind to be replenished, whether that is six, seven, or eight hours or more.

How do you determine how much sleep is enough for you? Start with a weekend or a day when you sleep in and dont set an alarm. That will give you a more natural time for sleeping so you wake up refreshed. Then try to duplicate that number of hours every day.

We Boomers also need to know that as we age, our biological clock resets. Sleep expert and physician Matthew Edlund, M.D. says that from the ages of 20 to 70, there is a 90-minute move forward in the typical biological clock. Dr. Edlund, author of The Power of Rest (HarperCollins) and The Body Clock Advantage (Circadian Press), points out that as we age, we go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. He calls it s a genetic biological clock phenomenon.

Sleep apnea on the rise

If youre a Boomer still looking for a reason to lose weight, heres a two word reason: sleep apnea. Overweight Boomers have a significantly higher likelihood of developing this condition that causes you to stop breathing while asleep. In fact, one of the first recommendations for treating someone with sleep apnea, especially if someone is obese, is to lose weight. Kathleen Myer, a registered respiratory therapist and sleep technician at HealthBridge in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, sees a lot of obstructive sleep apnea with Boomers, and that it is definitely life threatening.

A recent study conducted by Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, an associate professor at Boston Universitys School of Medicine, as reported by the National Sleep Foundation, found that men between the ages of 40 and 70 were 68% more likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who did not have obstructive sleep apnea as a predicting risk factor.

Unfortunately, only 10% of sleep apnea cases are even diagnosed. If it is diagnosed, the primary treatment is a nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.

Denver-based 50-year-old Barbara says shes had sleep apnea most of her life. I can remember my sister waking me up in the middle of the night when I was in my early teens because I was snoring loudly enough to wake her, she said. My first husband claimed I would shake the walls down. Finally, someone who shared a room with me suggested a sleep study. From that sleep study, Barbara learned that she was waking up 152 times an hour. I was so tired during the day that I would fall asleep at work or in the car when I stopped at a light.

A CPAP device has made all the difference in Barbaras life.

I wake up far more rested. I can stay awake during the day and work on the computer or watch TV two activities that I would fall asleep after a few minutes when I tried to do them before the CPAP. Now I sleep much more solidly, and actually have dreams and uninterrupted sleep. Using the CPAP for the past 11 years has extended my life. I have often suggested a sleep study to people who are tired all the time or talk about snoring. My life got much better when I could sleep! said Barbara.

If you or your bedroom partner have sleep apnea, it is important to comply with the doctors request to use a CPAP device. Myer points out, however, that this can be especially challenging for single men and women who are dating and prefer not to allow their romantic partner to see them using a CPAP device. To go without the CPAP machine for even one day, however, can have grave or even fatal consequences. Myer says there are CPAP devices called nasal pillows that have a strap and small cushions that just go into the nostril so that much less of the face is covered by that device.

Insomnia

There may also be an increase in insomnia with Boomers. One cause can be the frequent awakenings that are due to a male having to go to the bathroom during the night due to prostate enlargement or a female who suffers from incontinence. Fortunately, both conditions are treatable.

Anxiety is another cause of insomnia. These days more boomers are worrying about money, job loss, and foreclosure and thats causing us to toss and turn rather than get a good nights sleep. If this describes you or your bedmate, you need to work on solving those problems that are keeping you up at night. There are other reasons for insomnia and some of those factors are, fortunately, easier to correct than the financial, career, or real estate challenges. Here are 10 tips to help you to get a better night of sleep:

What to do

Here are 10 tips for a good nights sleep

1. Be as consistent as possible about how much sleep you get as well as about when you go to bed and when you wake up, including weekends.

2. Attend to the physical aspects of your sleep environment that you can change such as a comfortable bed, pillow, temperature that is not too hot or too cold, and minimal noise or interruptions.

3. If you take long or too many naps, that can interfere with your nighttime sleep so adjust accordingly.

4. If you have temporary insomnia due to stress or other transitional situations, including medications, pains, or illnesses that may be causing sleep problems, deal with the underlying causes of your insomnia.

5. If you find you have a chronic sleep-related issue, consider going to a sleep center staffed by trained sleep experts to have it properly diagnosed so you can be treated. (For a list of sleep centers, go to the American of sleep which maintains a free updated database.)

6. Watch your coffee or alcohol consumption immediately prior to sleep.

7. Exercising early enough in the day may help you to fall asleep at night but too close to your bedtime may act as a stimulus that keeps you up.

8. Some of the old-fashioned natural solutions for falling asleep include warm milk, taking a hot bath, or counting sheep. You might want to try one or all of those techniques before seeking out pharmaceutical help, such as sleeping pills, which need to be used with caution because of any possible side effects or the potential for becoming dependent whether over the counter or prescription. (See What about sleeping pills? below.)

9. Be careful about what TV programs, movies, or books you read at bedtime. Upsetting or riveting plots can keep you reading or watching long after you really wanted to go to sleep.

10. You might find writing a to do list of what you need to accomplish the next day will help you get to sleep since you wont be constantly mulling over in your mind all those things you need to do.

What about sleeping pills?

As pointed out in The Encyclopedia of Sleep and Sleep Disorders," sleeping pills are medications that induce drowsiness and facilitate the onset and maintenance of sleep. Some of the more well-known hypnotics include Lunesta (eszopiclone), Sonata (zaleplon), and Ambien (zolpidem).

Consult with your physician about whether or not a hypnotic medication is the right treatment for your insomnia. Make sure you are fully aware of any potential side effects to any prescribed or even over-the-counter sleep aids including the possibility of developing a tolerance, dependence, or addiction to a specific sleeping pill. (See, for example, FDA Wants Stronger Warnings on Sleep Disorder Drugs.)

Rest is More than Sleep

Recently sleep experts have found that in terms of rejuvenating our mind and bodies, rest may be more important the sleep. In his book, The Power of Rest: Why Sleep Alone is Not Enough, Dr. Edlund says that sleep is only one form of rest and non-sleep rest is so much more than relaxing and watching TV. Other ways to feel replenished include: mental rest, which enables you to obtain calm and relaxed concentration quickly and effectively as you concentrate attention on something beyond your body social rest, which means you are using the power of social connectedness to relax and rejuvenate; spiritual rest, the practice of connecting with things larger and greater than ourselves; and last, but not least, physical rest, by focusing your body and its simplest physiological processes, provokes calm, relaxation, mental alertness, and surprisingly better health.

Here are some of the techniques that Dr. Edlund discusses in greater detail in his book:

Mental rest
• Self-hypnosis
• Focusing the eye
• Walking to music
• Ear popping (According to Dr. Edlund, you simply put both your index fingers in your ears deep enough to stop outside noise. Leave your fingers there for ten seconds if you have the time, five if you dont. If youre in a place where its socially acceptable, also close your eyes.
• Garden walks

Social rest
• Sex
• Social touch
• Social networking and social support
• Making a special connection
• Visiting a neighbor of coworker you dont know well
• Walking to lunch with a colleague, friend, or neighbor

Spiritual rest
• Meditating
• The power of prayer
• Following the ways of the Zen Buddhist teachings, Contemplating suchness, all the world where we live
• Simple observational meditation

Physical rest
• Deep breathing
• Yoga techniques including the mountain pose or the gravity pose
• Napping (a short nap, as quick as six minutes, can improve your concentration).

Dr. Edlund recommends a daily approach to life that is typified by the acronym: FAR using food, activity, and rest in a sequence that is repeated throughout the day. The above rest techniques will help you to be more rested during the day and able to sleep better at night.

The Importance of Dreams

Sleep and dream specialist Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., author of Healing Night and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, says, Good sleep can help us age very well. Naiman advocates not just looking at sleep as a necessary evil. Its not like flossing your teeth. Instead, says Naiman, We need to restore the sacred or spiritual side to sleep and to help increase dreaming.

Dreams are important because your dreams can help you deal with issues you cant face consciously. Sometimes, if youve been wrestling with a problem, the solution will come to you in a dream.

So start getting enough sleep and rest so youll feel rejuvenated, start dreaming more often, and making the next third of your life a long and healthy one.

Anyone with a teenager knows getting them up and going for school can seem like you have spent 6 hours on a rowing machine in the gym.  It's a grind and it's not the way you want to start your day. 

You now have back-up. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a new recommendation -- it suggests starting middle and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. 

They caution that teens need their sleep and if we don't give it to them we are creating another generation of sleep-deprived people. The science supporting a return to later school start times is clear, and has been since the 1990s, the researchers say.

Not just pimples

Pimples are not the only right of passage in puberty, after all.  In puberty we see a shift in circadian rhythms, or "body clocks,"  that pushes optimal sleep time forward. Most teenagers simply can't fall asleep before 11 p.m. even if they're lying in bed for hours. When the sun comes up  they haven't gotten close to the 8½ to 9½ hours of sleep their brains and bodies need.

What we start to see are all the signs of sleep deprivation, like mood swings, weight gain, immune disorders and depression. Following all of those things is the fall-out in school -- not being able to concentrate, which results in poor grades. Not to mention new drivers and lack of sleep -- it's an accident waiting to happen.

According to sleep expert  James B. Maas of Cornell University, "Almost all teenagers, as they reach puberty, become walking zombies because they are getting far too little sleep."

Why no action?

So maybe school starting times should reflect this?

After all, there is some pretty strong evidence that really rings a bell with the experts. Besides the ones already mentioned, studies from  the University of Minnesota, Brown University, and the Children's National Medical Center provide evidence that running schools at developmentally appropriate hours not only improves health and academic performance but actually results in teenagers getting significantly more sleep. Community life adjusts to school schedules, not vice versa.

So why does high school still start at such ungodly hours as 7 a.m. around the country?

Well, one argument holds that sports would suffer. And then there's traffic. Putting all those school buses on the road later would clog up streets. And besides, we've done it this way forever.

The Academy of Pediatrics calls this "one of the most common -- and easily fixable -- public health issues in the U.S. today." So perhaps we ought to wake up and do what is best for our kids.

New research shows that educating students about the importance of sleep and offering feedback on sleep patterns can persuade them to catch some much-needed zzz's.

For the research -- the first large-scale study of sleep in college students to include both subjective and objective measures -- Cornell University psychology professor James Maas used the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach. The new technology records a sleeper's time in light, deep and REM sleep through a small, wireless headband sensor.

Maas distributed 300 devices to volunteers in his psychology class at the beginning of the fall 2009 semester. The students kept a written sleep log and recorded six nights of sleep data at each of three time points during weeks two, six, and 12 of the study.

Between the second and third time points, students heard Maas lecture on the importance of sleep and got personalized e-mail feedback based on their own sleep patterns.

Not surprisingly, says Maas, the students initially reported sleeping just an average of 7 hours 24 minutes a night -- much less than the 9 hours 15 minutes recommended for college students.

But in comparing the students' sleep logs with the Zeo measurements, he also found that the students overestimated their sleep time by 47 minutes -- meaning they were actually getting an average of 2 hours 28 minutes less sleep than they should.

The study also shows that the combination of sleep education and direct feedback from the Zeo motivated students to sleep better. By the end of the semester, students had increased their total nightly sleep time by an average of 15 minutes; and more than three out of five students had started sleeping almost an hour longer.

The percentage difference was most dramatic for the students who began the study in the bottom quartile for total hours of sleep. Those students increased their total nightly sleep time by an average of 51 minutes, or 15 percent.

And students with the best sleep scores -- those who spent the longest total time asleep and the most time in deep sleep -- were also the ones with the highest grades in the class.

"Students in the past have said, 'I'm not going to change my sleep-wake schedule unless you can prove to me that it's going to make a significant difference in my grades,'" Maas says. "Now we have very good evidence that if you want to improve your general well-being, this is the key; and it's the key that some Cornellians use, and they're the ones who are getting the high grades."

Dale Pescatore, an undergraduate student at Cornell, agrees. "I used to consider sleep a luxury, and it largely fell to the wayside when I was too busy balancing the other aspects of my life," Pescatore admits. "Since using the Zeo, I have realized that when sleep becomes a priority, everything else will fall into place."

Lack of sleep has been linked to a number of ailments, including excessive weight gain and heart ailments .

Have you ever felt sad or depressed during the day and weren't sure why?

The next time that happens ask yourself how much sleep you got the night before. Better yet, ask yourself how much sleep you've been getting overall.

And if you suffer from sleep apnea, you really want to ask yourself these questions.

Exploring the link

Researchers at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center recently took a closer look at the link between sleep apnea and depression and looked into how even small amounts of light can throw off a good night's sleep a great deal.

Dr. Ulysses Magalang, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Wexner Medical System, said nearly 50% of folks with sleep apnea live with depression.

"We know that approximately half of all patients with obstructive sleep apnea also suffer from depression and anxiety," he said. "And we aren't exactly sure why."

Magalang and his research team conducted an experiment using lab mice, to get a better understanding of how sleep apnea patients can sleep better.

At the conclusion of the experiment the researchers said even the dimmest of lights can cause a sleep apnea patient to suffer. And they're not just talking about the TV and laptop being kept on.

Magalang and his team said even the small dots of light on your cable box or other electronics can throw off sleep and cause depression.

In addition, people with sleep apnea should avoid using digital alarm clocks, since most give off light and can cause a distraction. In fact, anyone who wants a good night's sleep should follow these instructions.

"Light at night -- even low levels of light -- might actually suppress the secretion of melatonin," said Magalang.

Sleep preparation 

Dr. Shelby Freedman Harris, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, says in order for your brain to release melatonin, you'll have to make some preparations.

"In the sleep field we like to call [melatonin] the 'hormone of darkness,' " said Harris in an informational video. "Melatonin helps us to get sleepy and fall asleep at night. So when the sun goes down and it gets dark, melatonin starts to come out and we start to get sleepy."

And there are a lot of things that can disrupt that sleepy feeling, she says.

"If you are sitting in bright light in your bedroom or you're just playing with a computer or an iPad or you're watching TV, all those things can inhibit the ability for melatonin to come out and therefore make you not as sleepy when you want to go to bed at night," Harris explained.

The seriousness of apnea

According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, there are more than 20 million adults who are living with sleep apnea but don't know it, and besides depression, sleep apnea can lead to diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and other serious conditions.

If you're not sure if you have sleep apnea, Dr. Rod Willey, of the Illinois Institute of Dental Sleep Medicine, says getting someone to monitor your sleep is your best bet.

Wiley says that it's often a family member who observes that a spouse or partner stops breathing or snores loudly. Both can be signs of apnea.

In addition, Willey says it's not the snoring that people should be concerned about when it comes to sleep apnea, they should be worried about what happens after the snoring.

"Snoring is usually followed by a moment of silence," he said. "It's that moment of silence that we have to worry about, because that's when you actually must start breathing again. And after that moment of silence is over, that's usually followed by a cough or a gasp or a snorting or something -- or more snoring."

Willey says the snoring, followed by the silence and coughing can happen hundreds of times throughout the night for a person with sleep apnea, so grabbing a family member to watch you sleep is the best route that you can take. If you live alone, recording yourself sleeping might not be a bad idea.

Magalang says his team isn't 100% sure of how strong the link is between sleep apnea and depression, but the link does exist.

A good night's sleep

By just removing some of the small and subtle lights in a room, sleep apnea patients, and other folks, will be able to sleep better and lower the chances of depression setting in.

"Although it is unclear at the present time whether sleep apnea causes depression, both conditions are commonly seen together in patients," said Magalang. "Our research suggests that sleeping even with a minimum amount of light may increase symptoms of depression in those with sleep apnea.

"The combination of dim light exposure and sleep apnea appears to result in increased depressive and anxiety-like behaviors in mice, so limiting exposure to light at night could be a very simple strategy to help patients with sleep apnea. We're currently exploring further testing."

In addition, Magalang says for the best sleep, use drapes that will completely darken the room, as some drapes still allow a little light to get through. And obviously, all electronics should be turned off as you're getting ready to shut down for the night.

Lastly, Magalang says to choose clocks or night lights with red lighting instead of blue or green lighting, since blue and green lights can cause more distraction.

If you are in the habit of curling up in bed with a good book before dropping off to sleep, you might consider sticking with old fashioned books and not a tablet or e-reader.

There's new evidence that exposure to the e-reader's lighted screen may interfere with your circadian clock, interfering with your sleep.

"Electronic devices emit light that is short-wavelength-enriched light, which has a higher concentration of blue light -- with a peak around 450 nm -- than natural light," said Anne-Marie Chang, assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State. "This is different from natural light in composition, having a greater impact on sleep and circadian rhythms."

iPad vs. book

Chang and her colleagues base their conclusion on two week observations of 12 adults. Participants read each night before going to bed, sometimes from an iPad and sometimes a printed book. The researchers monitored the participants' melatonin levels, sleep and next-morning alertness, as well as other sleep-related measures.

They found that their subjects took nearly 10 minutes longer to fall asleep and had a significantly lower amount of REM -- rapid eye movement -- sleep after reading from the iPad than they did after reading from a printed book,

Surprise

"Our most surprising finding was that individuals using the e-reader would be more tired and take longer to become alert the next morning," said Chang. "This has real consequences for daytime functioning, and these effects might be worse in the real world as opposed to the controlled environment we used."

And it wasn't just an iPad that interfered with shut-eye. The experiment measured the amount of brightness coming from several devices, including an iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kindle Fire and Nook Color.

The Kindle e-reader does not give off light, while the iPad, Kindle Fire and Nook Color emit similar amounts of light. However, the iPad is the brightest of the devices measured.

The study lasted 14 days and was conducted in a hospital setting. Each of the subjects read from an iPad before bedtime 5 consecutive nights, then switched to a printed book for five straight nights. Hourly blood samples measured melatonin levels.

Sleep-restricted society

"We live in a sleep-restricted society, in general," said Chang. "It is important to further study the effects of using light-emitting devices, especially before bed, as they may have longer term health consequences than we previously considered."

In a poll released earlier this month the National Sleep Foundation discovered that 45% of Americans said poor or insufficient sleep affected their daily activities at least once in the past seven days.

Despite sleeping within the recommended number of hours a night, 35% of Americans report their sleep quality as “poor” or “only fair.” Twenty percent of Americans reported that they did not wake up feeling refreshed on any of the past seven days.

Over the weekend the U.S. returned to standard time. Clocks turned back one hour. It's something we do every year.

But if you find you are having a hard time readjusting to standard time, you aren't alone. Millions of us are dealing with changes to our sleep pattern. Experts say the readjustment may require some effort.

These problems are not unusual. Our bodies -- our circadian rhythms, actually — need a little time to adjust. These daily cycles are run by a network of tiny, coordinated biological clocks.

Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center specialist Kelly Brown says part of the problem is that the time change always falls on a weekend. In many cases, we tend to alter our sleep patterns on weekends, time change or no time change.

“A lot of people like to stay up late on the weekend and then sleep in, but it’s important to stick to your regular schedule,” Brown said. “Mondays are already hard when you shift your sleep schedule on the weekends, and the time change makes it even harder.”

Let there be light

The key to adjustment may be light. Brown says light is the most powerful way to control the internal clock.

“Getting sun exposure in the morning helps us feel more awake, and avoiding light at night, especially blue light from electronics, helps us fall asleep,” Brown said.

So a walk first thing in the morning might be a good way to promote adjustment to the new time. Brown says light travels a direct pathway through the eye’s retina and regulates the hormone melatonin, which controls the sleep-wake cycle, among other functions.

When you are exposed to light, your body produces less melatonin. Melatonin, a natural substance in your body, makes you feel sleepy. Exposure to darkness usually leads to more melatonin.

This may explain why we often feel more tired or groggy in the fall and winter months, when days are shorter and there are fewer hours of sunlight.

Don't ignore sleep problems

It’s very important to note that if you are feeling sleepy during the day or having difficulty falling or staying asleep, you should talk to your primary care provider and consider an evaluation by a sleep physician. Sleep disorders are highly treatable and their treatment can make a dramatic change in your health and daytime functioning,” Brown said.

Mike Sesma of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tracks circadian rhythm research being conducted in labs across the country. He says knowing more about your biological clock make help you adjust to that extra hour in the day.

The good news is, while they might get temporarily thrown off by changes in light or temperature, our internal clocks can usually reset themselves.

Internal control

Sesma says our internal clocks will affect our alertness, hunger, metabolism, fertility, mood and other physiological conditions. So it's not surprising that clock dysfunction can be associated with various disorders, including insomnia, diabetes and depression. Sesma says even drug efficacy has been linked to our clocks: Studies have shown that some drugs might be more effective if given earlier in the day.

For that reason Brown says you should establish a relaxing pre-sleep ritual, such as taking a bath, reading or listening to calm music. Your bedroom should be quiet, dark and at a comfortable temperature.

In the morning you don't want to produce melatonin, but at night you do. So avoid he bright lights and stimulation of TVs, computers and other electronics before bed.

Other common sense practices may also promote a good nights sleep. Don't eat a big meal before bedtime, or drive alcohol or coffee. Exercise in the morning, not the late afternoon or evening. And try to keep the same bedtime, even on weekends.

Have you noticed how many commercials there are on television promoting mattresses? Not just any mattresses, but super bedding designed to help you sleep better.

There are even pillows that promise a better night's rest. Whether these products really help can be debated, but it's clear many people are finding sleep is elusive and are looking for ways to get more of it.

That may be a good thing.

In a world of increasing stress, sleep is sometimes a casualty. When we're young we might stay out all night partying or pull an all-nighter to complete a school paper.

When we're older the stresses of family life and a competitive and uncertain workplace can rob us of sleep.

Health consequences

Whatever the stage of life and whatever the reason for it, doctors now recognize that not getting enough sleep has real health consequences.

“In the short term, a lack of adequate sleep can affect judgment, mood, ability to learn and retain information, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury,” according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. “In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation may lead to a host of health problems including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even early mortality.”

But how much sleep is enough? The exact number varies depending on age. But Dr. Lydia DonCarlos of the Loyola University Chicago School of Medicine is a member of a National Sleep Foundation panel that has just issued new recommendations.

New recommendations

She says newborns need 14 to 17 hours of sleep per day while senior adults aged 65 and up need 7 to 8 hours per day. Teens, who perhaps need sleep the most yet get it the least, are urged to get between 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.

To reach their conclusions DonCarlos said the panel looked at the findings of more than 300 previous studies of sleep.

“We still have a great deal to learn about the function of sleep,” DonCarlos said. “We know it’s restorative and important for memory consolidation. But we don’t know the details of what the function of sleep is, even though it is how we spend one-third of our lives.”

What you need

Here the panel's sleep-time recommendations:

• Newborns (0-3 months): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours each day (previously it was 12-18).
• Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12-15 hours (previously it was 14-15).
• Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened by one hour to 11-14 hours (previously it was 12-14).
• Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously it was 11-13).
• School age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours (previously it was 10-11).
• Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5).
• Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category).
• Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours.
• Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category).

A 2011 study found U.S. teenagers weren't meeting the old sleep recommendations, much less the new ones. It found that 68.9% of adolescents responding to a survey got less than 8 hours of sleep on the average school night.

Numerous studies have extolled the benefits of getting a full night’s sleep; those who do so have been found to have more energy and better overall health due to better body self-regulation. Unfortunately, many of us continue to not get enough sleep at night, and new research suggests that health deficits are not the only thing we have to worry about.

Researchers at RAND Europe – a not-for-profit organization – have found that sleep deprivation costs the U.S. economy an average of $411 billion every year. They say this is due to higher mortality risk and lower productivity levels from employees who go to work tired.

“Our study shows that the effects from a lack of sleep are massive. Sleep deprivation not only influences an individual’s health and wellbeing but has a significant impact on a nation’s economy, with lower productivity levels and a higher mortality risk among workers,” said Marco Hafner, lead author and researcher of the study.

Economic losses

The study, entitled “Why Sleep Matters – The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep," analyzed the economic impact of insufficient sleep in five countries. While Canada, Germany, Japan, and the U.K. are all burdened with billions in losses due to lack of sleep, the U.S. beats them all with a loss of $411 billion, 2.28% of the country’s GDP.

The researchers note that if workers get up to one hour of extra sleep per night, it could make a huge economic difference. They say that individuals who get between seven and nine hours every night – dubbed the “healthy daily sleep range” -- can lower their mortality risk by 7%.

“Improving individual sleep habits and duration has huge implications, with our research showing that simple changes can make a big difference. For example, if those who sleep under six hours a night increase their sleep to between six and seven hours a night, this could add $226.4 billion to the U.S. economy,” said Hafner.

Recommendations

The researchers make several recommendations that they believe would improve sleep outcomes. For individuals, they say that setting consistent wake-up times will help the body stay regulated. Limiting the use of electronic items before bed and getting physical exercise during the day are also key points.

Further, they suggest that employers design and build brighter workspaces, provide facilities for daytime naps, monitor and assess psychosocial risks connected to sleep loss, and discourage the use of electronic devices after the work day has concluded. Public authorities can also help by encouraging health professionals and employers to provide sleep-related help.

You can view the full report of the study here.

We’re not quite through a month of the new year, but many consumers will have inevitably lost track of their New Year’s resolutions. While we may promise to eat healthier, exercise more, quit bad habits, and meet job goals at the beginning of the year, it takes resolve and a strong will to stick to it.

However, researchers at the University of Michigan say that there is one thing that consumers can do to make keeping resolutions easier. Their study found that getting the right amount of sleep can help people achieve their goals by improving overall performance.

Achieving goals

Dr. Cathy Goldstein explains that not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can make consumers feel like their poor performance is normal. However, getting the recommended amount of sleep can help you accomplish a variety of goals. They include:

Eating healthier. People are much more likely to eat junk food when they’re not getting enough sleep. The researchers found that those who stay up late into the night tend to snack more and weigh more, on average. Additionally, those who aren’t sleeping well tend to make poorer meal choices during the day, which can lead to weight gain.

Exercising more. Anyone could tell you that going to the gym takes willpower, but it takes even more when you feel exhausted. Lack of sleep makes decreases our speed, strength, and endurance, and the physical payoffs we gain from going to the gym are reduced if our bodies aren’t ready for the workout.

Getting a promotion. If you’re looking to impress your boss, it’s important that you get enough sleep. The researchers say that those who do tend to be more alert, motivated, and cheerful – attributes that are compromised when we’re tired. Further, the researchers say that being tired can lead to bad work habits, like taking extended breaks and wasting company time on social media or entertainment sites.

Improving your relationship: Irritability is a trademark attribute of not getting enough sleep, and it can be a huge negative if you’re working through issues with your spouse or significant other. Unfortunately, your mood isn’t likely to improve if you’re not getting enough sleep, which will further harm the healing process.

Quitting smoking: Previous studies have connected lack of sleep with increased nicotine dependence. While the reason behind the association is unknown, it’s a great hindrance to those looking to quit a smoking habit. Lack of sleep can also lead to poorer decision making, so quitting the habit for health reasons may be harder to justify.

Encouraging healthy sleep

To help consumers keep their resolutions and reach optimal health, the researchers have provided some tips for getting optimal amounts of sleep. First, they say that adults should try to get seven to eight hours every night, even on the weekends. Going to bed at the same time every night can also help put your body on a good schedule.

Second, consumers are encouraged to stop using electronic devices right before going to bed. This includes the use of phones, tablets, and computers. “You’re most sensitive to bright light in the middle of the night. Even low levels can have a negative effect,” said one researcher.

Finally, consumers should strive to keep their bedrooms as dark as possible. Installing blackout blinds or curtains can help block outside light sources, and finding replacements for electronic clocks or other devices that light up can promote a better sleeping environment.

There have been countless “cures” proposed for those who have trouble sleeping. A cursory internet search will suggest anything from sipping warm milk to taking melatonin supplements. However, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have a much more recreational answer: go camping for a weekend.

Doctor Kenneth Wright, an integrative physiology professor and lead author of a paper covering two studies, explains how going camping in an environment with natural light and dark cycles can reverse the damage of living everyday life in an artificially lit environment.

"These studies suggest that our internal clock responds strongly and quite rapidly to the natural light-dark cycle. . . Living in our modern environments can significantly delay our circadian timing and late circadian timing is associated with many health consequences. But as little as a weekend camping trip can reset it," he said.

Managing our internal clocks

This is not the first paper that Wright has published on the beneficial effects of camping. In 2013, he conducted a study where participants were sent to camp for a week in the summer without the use of headlamps or flashlights at night. When they returned, Wright found that their levels of melatonin – a hormone that prepares the body for nighttime and promotes sleep – had synced with sunrise and sunset, a change of almost two hours.

To build on that previous study, Wright set out to find how quickly our internal clocks could change based on the lighting of our environment and the time of the year. The first study consisted of 14 participants – nine of which were asked to camp for a weekend during the summer while the other five stayed home. After the weekend, participants who went camping had melatonin rise 1.4 hours earlier than those who hadn’t gone, suggesting that their internal clocks had altered.

In the second study, five participants camped for an entire week around the time of the winter solstice. Statistics showed that they were exposed to 13 times more natural light than usual and that their melatonin levels began to rise 2.6 hours earlier.

"Weekend exposure to natural light was sufficient to achieve 69 percent of the shift in circadian timing we previously reported after a week's exposure to natural light," Wright stated.

Getting back in sync

So, what does all of this mean for sleep? Essentially, the two studies showed that not being exposed to artificial light allowed participants’ bodies to alter according to the time of the year and their bodies’ natural needs.

When living life normally with artificial light, the body’s internal clock and natural rhythms are often thrown off, which can impact when hormones are released, when we sleep and wake up, and even our appetite and metabolism. However, the studies show that just one weekend of camping away from that environment is enough to put our bodies back in sync. Wright hopes the results will help guide building and city design to help encourage natural light to promote health.

"Our findings highlight an opportunity for architectural design to bring more natural sunlight into the modern built environment and to work with lighting companies to incorporate tunable lighting that could change across the day and night to enhance performance, health and well-being," he said.

The full study has been published in Current Biology.