The power of sleep

Used to be when you got behind on your sleep, your only worries were the bags under your eyes and a killer bout of crankiness.

Now we know better.

Researchers tell us that a lack of sleep is associated with all kinds of ailments – flu and other infections, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, even cancer.

“There are so many,” says Reena Mehra, medical director of the adult sleep laboratory at Cleveland’s University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “And I think one of the biggest, and the one that’s received the most press, in the increase in weight gain.”

It’s true – cutting back on sleep is making us fat. That’s because, in part, that a lack of sleep affects the hormones that trigger the sensations of hunger and fullness.

Then there are the social problems a shortage of shut-eye can cause – crabbiness, anxiety, an inability to think clearly, difficulty figuring out right from wrong and the increased chance that we’ll engage in risky behavior.

Add to that a higher likelihood of getting killed in a car wreck and you see how important sleep is.

“It appears that sleep has been de-emphasized – or not considered a priority – in many people’s lives,” says Dennis Auckley, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Cleveland’s MetroHealth Medical Center. “And they probably ought to rethink that.”

Before you can tackle the problem, you’ve got to figure out how much sleep you need.

Studies show most adults require seven to nine hours a night; children much more, depending on their age.

Studies also show fewer and fewer of us are catching as many ZZZZs as we need.

In 2001, 38 percent of adults slept for eight or more hours on weeknights, according to the American Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America polls. In 2002, only 30 percent were. By 2005, that dropped to 26 percent.

If that doesn’t worry you, this will:

Those same polls found that 36 percent of us have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving, 32 percent of us drive drowsy at least once or twice a month and 20 percent of us have sex less often or have lost interest in it because we’re tired.

“It’s kind of shocking,” Auckley says.

And it’s a clear sign that it’s time for all of us to get back on track in the sack.

But where to start?

Auckley recommends figuring out how much sleep you need. The perfect time to do that is when you’re on vacation, away from the stress of work and the jangle of the alarm clock.

Watch to see how many hours you need to feel fully rested while you’re on holiday. That’s how much you need.

Then make sleep a priority.

The best way to do that, Auckley says, is by becoming your own sleep security guard.

That means telling family and friends to stop calling, e-mailing and sending text messages late at night or early in the morning. It means turning off the TV and computer. It means saying no to anything that needlessly cuts into your sleep.

Then crank up the quality of sleep you’re getting.

There are a lot of ways to make that happen. To start with, make sure you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. “Even on weekends,” Mehra says.

That regular schedule keeps our body clock in tune and makes it easier to fall asleep.

A relaxing bedtime routine helps, too. Try those things Mom told you to do: take a warm bath, sip a cup of herbal tea, read or listen to soothing music.

There’s a “don’t” list too of things to avoid in the few hours before bedtime.

Don’t exercise then, don’t expose yourself to bright light, don’t pay bills or take on any other stressful work.

“I tell people to make a worry list and write down their worries – get it all out of their system – and put it out of the way somewhere,” Mehra says.

That tells your brain it’s time to take a break from those things and lets it know it can go back to them in the morning.

Tossing the TV, video games and computer out of the bedroom help, too.

In fact, experts say, you should only use your bedroom for two things: sleep and sex.

“That’s the mantra,” Auckley says.

“It’s all about associating your bedroom with a dark, quiet, safe place,” says Mehra.

The ideal sleep environment is also dark, cool and free of noise and other distractions. Use a fan or humidifier to provide white noise, blackout curtains or eyeshades to keep it dark and ear plugs to fight a partner’s snoring or other noise.

A few more tips round out the list: Sleep on a comfortable mattress, don’t eat two to three hours before bedtime, avoid spicy foods and fluids that could wake you with heartburn or a need to use the bathroom, avoid caffeine about six hours before bedtime and stay away from tobacco and alcohol two hours before you go sleep.

It’s true. Alcohol helps you fall asleep. But it has a bad habit of waking you up in the middle of the night.

If you try all these and still aren’t well rested, it’s time to get help.

Call your doctor if you see other red flags, too.

“When you start to feel that your quality of life is being affected by poor quality sleep or inefficient sleep,” Mehra says.

Or when you have the perfect storm of symptoms: snoring, daytime sleepiness and your bed partner noticing that your breathing stops while you’re asleep.

Those are signs of sleep apnea, a disorder that affects about 5 percent of the population, but goes undiagnosed in many cases.

The bottom line is this: Stop skimping on sleep.

Otherwise, you may find yourself in the middle of one heck of a health nightmare.