Misconceptions we know to be true
Most of what we know about sleep and health is wrong. Some of our prevailing ideas about sleep can even be dangerous. Here are some common beliefs about sleep and the facts behind it.
Snoring can be annoying, but it’s safe!
This may be true for many people, but sometimes snoring is a precursor to a condition known as sleep apnea. This condition stops breathing during sleep. People with sleep apnea often snore, and in advanced cases, they wake up many times a night out of breath. Sleep apnea can have serious consequences. Snoring is also associated with obesity and can block the airway.
People who snore chronically should see a doctor to see if they have a potentially life-threatening problem.
All-night sleep is recommended, but you can settle for less.
Getting less sleep than you need not only makes you feel tired, it can also be detrimental to your health. Obesity, blood pressure, depression, low productivity and mental activity are the consequences of insomnia.
If you feel sleepy while driving, turning on the radio or the window will help you stay awake
These tactics can fool you; It may revive you for a few minutes, but a tired body will soon be unable to perceive the stimuli. At the end of this, your head starts to fall in front of you again. The best thing to do when you feel sleepy while driving is to pull your vehicle to a suitable and safe area and take a nap for at least 15 minutes. Even this is actually a temporary measure. The only way to avoid the dangers of drowsy driving is to have a good sleep the night before.
Since adolescents are grown enough, they can be content with sleep as adults.
We cannot say that an adolescent napping in class shows signs of laziness or inattention. Sleep experts report that teenagers need more sleep than the average adult—at least 8.5 to 9.5 hours. The only problem is that teenagers’ biological clocks are closer to the adult rhythm: being awake late in the evening and sleeping until later in the morning. Since many schools start education very early, these students may be chronically sleep deprived.
If you don’t have trouble falling asleep, you won’t suffer from insomnia
Difficulty falling asleep is just one of four symptoms associated with insomnia. Others; waking up too early and not being able to sleep again, waking up frequently and waking up tired. Any of these insomnia types can be a symptom of a sleep disorder or another medical problem.
Health problems such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression are either genetic or related to lifestyle, not sleep.
On the contrary, scientific studies have proven the link between sleep and many health problems. For example, insufficient sleep affects the production of growth hormones related to weight control. Cardiovascular problems, predisposition to diabetes, and other health conditions appear to be linked to poor sleep.
As we get older, we need less sleep.
It’s our sleep patterns that change as we age, not the amount of sleep we need. The elderly may wake up more often at night, but they tend to nap more during the day.
Sleep is a time when your brain rests.
In fact, a significant amount of mental activity takes place during certain stages of sleep. There are many phases in each 90-minute sleep cycle. Even in the deepest part of each cycle, the brain is processing information or dreaming. Scientists are still not sure why we dream, but it is known that; periods of brain activity serve a vital repair function.
If you wake up in the middle of the night, try to fall asleep by counting sheep or using some other method.
If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night and told yourself you had to go to sleep, you know how impossible it is. If you can’t fall back asleep within 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something to relax you. So you can feel sleepy again and go back to bed.
