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Better sleep is a protective factor against dementia

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andree-ann-baril-1494268">Andrée-Ann Baril</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-de-montreal-1743">Université de Montréal</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-pase-1494296">Matthew Pase</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> Dementia is a progressive loss of cognitive abilities, such as memory, that is significant enough to have an impact on a person’s daily activities. It can be caused by a number of different diseases, including <a href="https://alzheimer.ca/en/about-dementia/what-alzheimers-disease">Alzheimer’s</a>, which is the most common form. Dementia is caused by a loss of neurons over a long period of time. Since, by the time symptoms appear, many changes in the brain have already occurred, many scientists are focusing on studying the risk and protective factors for dementia. A risk factor, or conversely, a protective factor, is a condition or behaviour that increases or reduces the risk of developing a disease, but does not guarantee either outcome. Some risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, such as age or genetics, are not modifiable, but there are several other factors we can influence, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext">specifically lifestyle habits and their impact on our overall health</a>. These risk factors include depression, lack of physical activity, social isolation, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking, as well as poor sleep. We have been focusing our research on the question of sleep for over 10 years, particularly in the context of the <a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/framingham-heart-study-fhs">Framingham Heart Study</a>. In this large community-based cohort study, ongoing since the 1940s, the health of surviving participants has been monitored to the present day. As researchers in sleep medicine and epidemiology, we have expertise in researching the role of sleep and sleep disorders in cognitive and psychiatric brain aging. As part of our research, we monitored and analyzed the sleep of people aged 60 and over to see who did — or did not — develop dementia. <h2>Sleep as a risk or protective factor against dementia</h2> Sleep appears to play an essential role in a number of brain functions, such as memory. Good quality sleep <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/2793873">could therefore play a vital role in preventing dementia</a>. Sleep is important for maintaining <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1241224">good connections in the brain</a>. Recently, research has revealed that sleep seems to have a function similar to that of a garbage truck for the brain: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2023.111899">deep sleep could be crucial for eliminating metabolic waste from the brain</a>, including clearing certain proteins, such as those known to accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, the links between deep sleep and dementia still have to be clarified. <h2>What is deep sleep?</h2> During a night’s sleep, we go through several <a href="http://ceams-carsm.ca/en/a-propos-du-sommeil/">sleep stages</a> that succeed one another and are repeated. NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement sleep) is divided into light NREM sleep (NREM1 stage), NREM sleep (NREM2 stage) and deep NREM sleep, also called slow-wave sleep (NREM3 stage). The latter is associated with several restorative functions. Next, REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep) is the stage generally associated with the most vivid dreams. An adult generally spends around 15 to 20 per cent of each night in deep sleep, if we add up all the periods of NREM3 sleep. Several sleep changes are common in adults, such as going to bed and waking up earlier, sleeping for shorter periods of time and less deeply, and waking up more frequently during the night. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579041/original/file-20240229-16-efo9mx.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Sleep stages, and the role of deep sleep for brain health. (Andrée-Ann Baril)</figcaption></figure> <h2>Loss of deep sleep linked to dementia</h2> Participants in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/2810957">Framingham Heart Study</a> were assessed using a sleep recording — known as polysomnography — on two occasions, approximately five years apart, in 1995-1998 and again in 2001-2003. Many people showed a reduction in their deep slow-wave sleep over the years, as is to be expected with aging. Conversely, the amount of deep sleep in some people remained stable or even increased. Our team of researchers from the Framingham Heart Study followed 346 participants aged 60 and over for a further 17 years to observe who developed dementia and who did not. Progressive loss of deep sleep over time was associated with an increased risk of dementia, whatever the cause, and particularly Alzheimer’s type dementia. These results were independent of many other risk factors for dementia. Although our results do not prove that loss of deep sleep causes dementia, they do suggest that it could be a risk factor in the elderly. Other aspects of sleep may also be important, such as its duration and quality. <h2>Strategies to improve deep sleep</h2> Knowing the impact of a lack of deep sleep on cognitive health, what strategies can be used to improve it? First and foremost, if you’re experiencing sleep problems, it’s worth talking to your doctor. Many sleep disorders are underdiagnosed and treatable, particularly through behavioural (i.e. non-medicinal) approaches. Adopting good sleep habits can help, such as going to bed and getting up at consistent times or avoiding bright or blue light in bed, like that of screens. You can also avoid caffeine, limit your alcohol intake, maintain a healthy weight, be physically active during the day, and sleep in a comfortable, dark and quiet environment. The role of deep sleep in preventing dementia remains to be explored and studied. Encouraging sleep with good lifestyle habits could have the potential to help us age in a healthier way.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222854/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andree-ann-baril-1494268">Andrée-Ann Baril</a>, Professeure-chercheure adjointe au Département de médecine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-de-montreal-1743">Université de Montréal</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-pase-1494296">Matthew Pase</a>, Associate Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-sleep-is-a-protective-factor-against-dementia-222854">original article</a>. </div>

Mind

Could not getting enough sleep increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-murfet-1517219">Giuliana Murfet</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shanshan-lin-1005236">ShanShan Lin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> Not getting enough sleep is a common affliction in the modern age. If you don’t always get as many hours of shut-eye as you’d like, perhaps you were concerned by news of a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815684">recent study</a> that found people who sleep less than six hours a night are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. So what can we make of these findings? It turns out the relationship between sleep and diabetes is complex. <h2>The study</h2> Researchers analysed data from the <a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/">UK Biobank</a>, a large biomedical database which serves as a global resource for health and medical research. They looked at information from 247,867 adults, following their health outcomes for more than a decade. The researchers wanted to understand the associations between sleep duration and type 2 diabetes, and whether a healthy diet reduced the effects of short sleep on diabetes risk. As part of their involvement in the UK Biobank, participants had been asked roughly how much sleep they get in 24 hours. Seven to eight hours was the average and considered normal sleep. Short sleep duration was broken up into three categories: mild (six hours), moderate (five hours) and extreme (three to four hours). The researchers analysed sleep data alongside information about people’s diets. Some 3.2% of participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the follow-up period. Although healthy eating habits were associated with a lower overall risk of diabetes, when people ate healthily but slept less than six hours a day, their risk of type 2 diabetes increased compared to people in the normal sleep category. The researchers found sleep duration of five hours was linked with a 16% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while the risk for people who slept three to four hours was 41% higher, compared to people who slept seven to eight hours. One limitation is the study defined a healthy diet based on the number of servings of fruit, vegetables, red meat and fish a person consumed over a day or a week. In doing so, it didn’t consider how dietary patterns such as time-restricted eating or the Mediterranean diet may modify the risk of diabetes among those who slept less. Also, information on participants’ sleep quantity and diet was only captured at recruitment and may have changed over the course of the study. The authors acknowledge these limitations. <h2>Why might short sleep increase diabetes risk?</h2> In people with <a href="https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/">type 2 diabetes</a>, the body becomes resistant to the effects of a hormone called insulin, and slowly loses the capacity to produce enough of it in the pancreas. Insulin is important because it regulates glucose (sugar) in our blood that comes from the food we eat by helping move it to cells throughout the body. We don’t know the precise reasons why people who sleep less may be at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23501">previous research</a> has shown sleep-deprived people often have increased <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-511X-9-125">inflammatory markers</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-015-3500-4">free fatty acids</a> in their blood, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1055-8">impair insulin sensitivity</a>, leading to <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.23501">insulin resistance</a>. This means the body struggles to use insulin properly to regulate blood glucose levels, and therefore increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Further, people who don’t sleep enough, as well as people who sleep in irregular patterns (such as shift workers), experience disruptions to their body’s natural rhythm, known as the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5995632/">circadian rhythm</a>. This can interfere with the release of hormones like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1210/edrv.18.5.0317">cortisol, glucagon and growth hormones</a>. These hormones are released through the day to meet the body’s changing energy needs, and normally keep blood glucose levels nicely balanced. If they’re compromised, this may reduce the body’s ability to handle glucose as the day progresses. These factors, and <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar8590">others</a>, may contribute to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes seen among people sleeping less than six hours. While this study primarily focused on people who sleep eight hours or less, it’s possible longer sleepers may also face an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Research has previously shown a U-shaped correlation between sleep duration and type 2 diabetes risk. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc14-2073">review</a> of multiple studies found getting between seven to eight hours of sleep daily was associated with the lowest risk. When people got less than seven hours sleep, or more than eight hours, the risk began to increase. The reason sleeping longer is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes may be linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0186">weight gain</a>, which is also correlated with longer sleep. Likewise, people who don’t sleep enough are more likely to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.07.013">overweight or obese</a>. <h2>Good sleep, healthy diet</h2> Getting enough sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Based on this study and other evidence, it seems that when it comes to diabetes risk, seven to eight hours of sleep may be the sweet spot. However, other factors could influence the relationship between sleep duration and diabetes risk, such as individual differences in sleep quality and lifestyle. While this study’s findings question whether a healthy diet can mitigate the effects of a lack of sleep on diabetes risk, a wide range of evidence points to the benefits of <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/behealthy/healthy-diet">healthy eating</a> for overall health. The <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815684">authors of the study</a> acknowledge it’s not always possible to get enough sleep, and suggest doing <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33137489/">high-intensity interval exercise</a> during the day may offset some of the potential effects of short sleep on diabetes risk. In fact, exercise <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2023.03.001">at any intensity</a> can improve blood glucose levels.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225179/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-murfet-1517219">Giuliana Murfet</a>, Casual Academic, Faculty of Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shanshan-lin-1005236">ShanShan Lin</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-not-getting-enough-sleep-increase-your-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-225179">original article</a>.

Body

Asking ChatGPT a health-related question? Better keep it simple

It’s tempting to <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/chatgpt-and-dr-google/">turn to search engines</a> to seek out health information, but with the rise of large language models, like ChatGPT, people are becoming more and more likely to depend on AI for answers too. <div class="copy"> Concerningly, an Australian study has now found that the more evidence given to <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/chatgpt-an-intimate-companion/">ChatGPT</a> when asked a health-related question, the less reliable it becomes. Large language models (LLM) and artificial intelligence use in health care is still developing, creating a a critical gap when providing incorrect answers can have serious consequences for people’s health. To address this, scientists from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and the University of Queensland (UQ) explored a hypothetical scenario: an average person asking ChatGPT if ‘X’ treatment has a positive effect on condition ‘Y’. They presented ChatGPT with 100 questions sourced from the <a href="https://trec-health-misinfo.github.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TREC Health Misinformation track</a> – ranging from ‘Can zinc help treat the common cold?’ to ‘Will drinking vinegar dissolve a stuck fish bone?’ Because queries to search engines are typically shorter, while prompts to a LLM can be far longer, they posed the questions in 2 different formats: the first as a simple question and the second as a question biased with supporting or contrary evidence. By comparing ChatGPT’s response to the known correct response based on existing medical knowledge, they found that ChatGPT was 80% accurate at giving accurate answers in a question-only format. However, when given an evidence-biased prompt, this accuracy reduced to 63%, which was reduced again to 28% when an “unsure” answer was allowed. “We’re not sure why this happens,” says CSIRO Principal Research Scientist and Associate Professor at UQ, Dr Bevan Koopman, who is co-author of the paper. “But given this occurs whether the evidence given is correct or not, perhaps the evidence adds too much noise, thus lowering accuracy.” Study co-author Guido Zuccon, Director of AI for the Queensland Digital Health Centre at UQ says that major search engines are now integrating LLMs and search technologies in a process called Retrieval Augmented Generation. “We demonstrate that the interaction between the LLM and the search component is still poorly understood, resulting in the generation of inaccurate health information,” says Zuccon. Given the widespread popularity of using LLMs online for answers on people’s health, Koopman adds, we need continued research to inform the public about risks and to help them optimise the accuracy of their answers. “While LLMs have the potential to greatly improve the way people access information, we need more research to understand where they are effective and where they are not.” Image credits: Getty Images <div> </div> <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=301406&title=Asking+ChatGPT+a+health-related+question%3F+Better+keep+it+simple" width="1" height="1" loading="lazy" aria-label="Syndication Tracker" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/ai/asking-chatgpt-a-health-related-question-better-keep-it-simple/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/imma-perfetto/">Imma Perfetto</a>. </div>

Caring

How to fall asleep without sleeping pills: 7 natural sleep aids that actually work

It’s 3am and you’re suddenly wide awake. Try these seven science-backed strategies to fall back to sleep fast. Give meditation a try As a mindfulness coach, I’m very aware of the day-to-day anxieties and worries that can interfere with a good night’s sleep. One of the most effective natural sleep aids is a quick meditation session to ease yourself out of those stresses. If you’ve never meditated before, you’ll likely find the meditation interrupted by thoughts flashing through your mind. It’s important for you to know that this isn’t a failure on your part, and that you aren’t doing anything wrong. Thinking is just what the brain does, as naturally as lungs take in air. The point is to be non-judgmental yet aware of your thoughts, bodily experiences and breath, moment by moment. Stop wanting to fall asleep It’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? Sometimes trying too hard to do something is the very thing that prevents us from achieving it – and that’s never more true than when it comes to falling asleep. Desperately wanting to sleep will only stoke anxieties that will further stress your brain, essentially feeding it the message that it’s not safe to sleep. Throw in those worries about your to-do list at work the following day, and the whole thing can snowball into a panic attack. Try letting go of that feeling that you absolutely must sleep now, and observe your own anxieties for what they are without judgment. When you stop looking at sleep as a goal, you’ll find it easier to fall asleep. Start a journal If you find yourself struggling to fall asleep, pick up a pen and paper (not your phone!), and start writing: simply scribble down an account of what’s going on inside your head. Although there’s no “right” way to journal, you might start by listing the events of your day, and from there, how those events and encounters made you feel. Building this structured picture of your thoughts may help you see that the problem that’s keeping you up at night, and is likely less overwhelming than you thought. Why my insistence on a pen and paper? First off, studies show the simple motor action that’s involved in the act of handwriting has a calming effect. Secondly, the light emitted by laptops and phones isn’t conducive to falling asleep. Find yourself a "3am friend" Some of us are lucky to have a ‘3am friend’, that close confidant you can call up in the wee hours knowing that they won’t hold it against you in the morning. Although it’s great to have someone to talk to when you want to fall asleep, it’s important that the conversation doesn’t just rehash the anxieties that are preventing you from catching shut-eye in the first place. Rather than using the call to seek solutions for those issues, talk about things that calm your nerves, or even have them assist you in deep breathing. It may sound silly, but doing a series of deep, relaxing breaths can help you let go of the troubles that are keeping you wide awake. Take a warm shower Taking a warm shower not only relaxes your muscles and soothes minor aches and pains, but it also raises your core body temperature. As soon as you step out of the shower, your body starts working at lowering that temperature, which is something that normally happens when you’re falling asleep naturally. (That’s why we always feel the need for a blanket when we sleep, no matter how warm it is!) By kick-starting that temperature-lowering process, you’re tricking your body into falling asleep fast. Stretch yourself to sleep Anxiety keeping you up? Research suggests mild stretching can help take the edge off and relax muscles that have become stiff and sore after a long day. We’re not talking intricate yoga poses or acrobatics here, either: Simple stretches like an overhead arm stretch and bending over to touch your toes should do the trick. Ramp up the relaxation potential with a soundtrack of ambient noise at a volume that’s just barely audible. There are plenty of white noise apps that are free to download, but soft music can work as well (so long as there are no lyrics). Just remember, if you’re using an electronic device to play these sleep-promoting sounds, make sure it’s placed screen-down so you’re not distracted by the light it emits. Read (or listen!) to something new When you’re struggling with insomnia, it might be tempting to pull an old favourite off the bookshelf. In reality, it’s better to read or listen to an audio book that covers a topic on which you know absolutely nothing. New information, while taking attention away from the stressors that are keeping you up at night, gives your brain enough of a workout to make it tire more quickly than when it’s engaged with familiar subjects and concepts. Again, if it’s an audio book or podcast you’re listening to, make sure the light-emitting side of the device is face down to keep the room as dark as possible. Darkness and warmth play an essential part in the production and maintenance of melatonin, the hormone that plays the central role falling asleep. Image credits: Getty Images This article by Deepak Kashyap originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/conditions/sleep/how-to-fall-asleep-without-sleeping-pills-7-natural-sleep-aids-that-actually-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Body

Here’s why having chocolate can make you feel great or a bit sick – plus 4 tips for better eating

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saman-khalesi-366871">Saman Khalesi</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Australians are <a href="https://www.retail.org.au/media/sweet-spending-boon-predicted-for-easter-retail">predicted</a> to spend around A$1.7 billion on chocolates, hot cross buns and other special foods this Easter season. Chocolate has a long history of production and consumption. It is made from cacao beans that go through processes including fermentation, drying, roasting and grounding. What is left is a rich and fatty liquor that is pressed to remove the fat (cocoa butter) and the cacao (or “cocoa”) powder which will then be mixed with different ingredients to produce dark, milk, white and other types of chocolates. There are several health benefits and potential problems that come in these sweet chocolatey packages. <h2>The good news</h2> Cacao beans contain <a href="https://foodstruct.com/food/cocoa-bean">minerals</a> like iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus and some vitamins. They are also rich in beneficial chemicals called <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23150750/">polyphenols</a>. These are great antioxidants, with the potential to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465250/">improve heart health</a>, increase <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25164923/">nitric oxide</a> (which dilates blood vessels) and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3488419/">reduce blood pressure</a>, provide food for gut microbiota and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/7/1908">promote gut health</a>, boost the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465250/">immune system</a> and reduce inflammation. However, the concentration of polyphenols in the chocolate we eat depends largely on the cocoa solid amounts used in the final product. In general terms, the darker the chocolate, the more cocoa solids, minerals and polyphenols it has. For example, dark chocolates may have around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942912.2011.614984">seven times more polyphenols</a> compared to white chocolates and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942912.2011.614984">three times more polyphenols</a> compared to milk chocolates. <h2>But also some bad news</h2> Unfortunately, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/treat-or-treatment-chocolate-is-good-but-cocoa-is-better-for-your-heart-3084">health benefits of cocoa solids</a> are easily offset by the high sugar and fat content of modern-day chocolates. For example, milk and white chocolate eggs are on average 50% sugar, 40% fat (mostly saturated fats) – which means a lot of added kilojoules (calories). Also, there may be some side effects that come with ingesting chocolate. Cocoa beans include a compound called theobromine. While it has the anti-inflammatory properties responsible for some of the health benefits of chocolate, it is also a mild brain stimulant that acts in a similar way to caffeine. The mood boost it offers may also be partly responsible for how much we <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2015.00030/full?crsi=662496658&cicada_org_src=healthwebmagazine.com&cicada_org_mdm=direct">like chocolate</a>. Dark chocolate has higher theobromine compared to milk and white chocolate. But accordingly, overindulging in chocolate (and therefore theobromine) may lead to feeling restless, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672386/">headaches</a> and nausea. <h2>What else is in your chocolate?</h2> Milk and dairy-based chocolates may also cause stomach upset, abdominal pain and bloating in people with <a href="https://dietitiansaustralia.org.au/health-advice/lactose-intolerance">lactose intolerance</a>. This happens when we don’t produce enough lactase enzymes to digest milk sugar (lactose). People with lactose intolerance can usually tolerate up to 6 grams of lactose without showing symptoms. Milk chocolate can have around <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310258/">3 grams of lactose</a> per 40 grams (the size of a standard chocolate bar). So two chocolate bars (or the equivalent in milk chocolate eggs or bunnies) may be enough to cause symptoms. It’s worth noting that lactase enzyme activity dramatically declines as we age, with the highest activity in newborns and children. So lactose sensitivity or intolerance may not be such an issue for your kids and your symptoms may increase over time. Genetics also plays a major role in how sensitive people are to lactose. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6815241/">Allergic reactions</a> to chocolate are usually due to the added ingredients or cross-contamination with potential allergens such as nuts, milk, soy, and some sweeteners used in the production of chocolate. Symptoms can be mild (acne, rashes and stomach pain) or more severe (swelling of the throat and tongue and shortness of breath). If you or your family members have known allergic reactions, make sure you read the label before indulging – especially in a whole block or basket of the stuff. And if you or your family members do experience symptoms of an allergic reaction after eating chocolate, <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/allergic-reactions-emergency-first-aid">seek medical attention</a> immediately. <h2>4 take home tips</h2> So, if you are like me and have a weakness for chocolate there are a few things you can do to make the experience a good one.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202848/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <ol> <li>keep an eye out for the darker chocolate varieties with higher cocoa solids. You may notice a percentage on labelling, which refers to how much of its weight is from cocoa beans. In general, the higher this percentage, the lower the sugar. White chocolate has almost no cocoa solid, and mostly cocoa butter, sugar and other ingredients. Dark chocolate has 50–100% cocoa beans, and less sugar. Aim for at least 70% cocoa</li> <li>read the fine print for additives and possible cross-contamination, especially if allergies might be an issue</li> <li>the ingredients list and nutrition information panel should tell you all about the chocolate you choosing. Go for varieties with lower sugar and less saturated fat. Nuts, seeds and dried fruits are better ingredients to have in your chocolate than sugar, creme, syrup, and caramel</li> <li>finally, treat yourself – but keep the amount you have within sensible limits!</li> </ol> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saman-khalesi-366871">Saman Khalesi</a>, Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Heart Foundation & Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Nutrition, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-having-chocolate-can-make-you-feel-great-or-a-bit-sick-plus-4-tips-for-better-eating-202848">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

Eating leafy greens could be better for oral health than using mouthwash

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mia-cousins-burleigh-1201153">Mia Cousins Burleigh</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-west-of-scotland-1385">University of the West of Scotland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/siobhan-paula-moran-1506183">Siobhan Paula Moran</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-west-of-scotland-1385">University of the West of Scotland</a> Over half the adult population in the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26052472">UK and US</a> have gum disease. Typical treatments include <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61912-4">mouthwash</a> and in severe cases, <a href="https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/vetn.2017.8.10.542">antibiotics</a>. These treatments have side effects, such as dry mouth, the development of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30967854/">antimicrobial resistance</a> and increased <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61912-4">blood pressure</a>. But research has indicated that a molecule called <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">nitrate</a>, which is found in leafy green vegetables, has fewer side effects and offers greater benefits for oral health. And it could be used as a natural alternative for treating oral disease. Inadequate brushing and flossing leads to the build up of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">dental plaque</a>, a sticky layer of bacteria, on the surface of teeth and gums. Plaque causes tooth decay and gum disease. Sugary and acidic foods, dry mouth, and smoking can also contribute to bad breath, tooth decay, and gum infections. The two main types of gum disease are gingivitis and periodontitis. <a href="https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/etm.2019.8381">Gingivitis</a> causes redness, swelling and bleeding of the gums. <a href="https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/etm.2019.8381">Periodontitis</a> is a more advanced form of gum disease, causing damage to the soft tissues and bones supporting the teeth. Periodontal disease can therefore, lead to tooth loss and, when bacteria from the mouth enter the bloodstream, can also contribute to the development of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/bdjteam2015163">systemic disorders</a> such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. <h2>Leafy greens may be the secret</h2> Leafy greens and root vegetables are bursting with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666149723000312">vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants</a> – and it’s no secret that a diet consisting of these vegetables is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight, boosting the immune system, and preventing <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2048004016661435">heart disease, cancer and diabetes.</a> The multiple health benefits of leafy greens are partly because spinach, lettuce and beetroots are brimming with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">nitrate</a>, which can be reduced to nitric oxide by nitrate-reducing bacteria inside the mouth. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7zrRlMGeBes?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Popeye knew a thing or two about the health benefits of eating leafy greens. Boomerang Official, 2017.</figcaption></figure> Nitric oxide is known to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006295222004191">lower blood pressure</a> and improve <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243755#:%7E:text=Nitrate%2Drich%20beetroot%20juice%20offsets,healthy%20male%20runners%20%7C%20PLOS%20ONE">exercise performance</a>. However, in the mouth, it helps to prevent the overgrowth of bad bacteria and reduces <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243755#:%7E:text=Nitrate%2Drich%20beetroot%20juice%20offsets,healthy%20male%20runners%20%7C%20PLOS%20ONE">oral acidity</a>, both of which can cause gum disease and tooth decay. As part of our research on nitrate and oral health, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243755#:%7E:text=Nitrate%2Drich%20beetroot%20juice%20offsets,healthy%20male%20runners%20%7C%20PLOS%20ONE">we studied competitive athletes</a>. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9839431/">Athletes are prone to gum disease</a> due to high intake of carbohydrates – which can cause inflammation of the gum tissues – stress, and dry mouth from breathing hard during training. Our study showed that beetroot juice (containing approximately 12 <a href="https://www.nursingtimes.net/students/an-easy-guide-to-mmols-09-02-2012/">millimole</a> of nitrate) protected their teeth from acidic sports drinks and carbohydrate gels during exercise – suggesting that nitrate could be used as a prebiotic by athletes to reduce the risk of tooth decay. Nitrate offers a lot of promise as an oral health <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">prebiotic</a>. Good oral hygiene and a nitrate rich diet could be the key to a healthier body, a vibrant smile and disease-free gums. This is good news for those most at risk of oral health deterioration such as <a href="https://www.news-medical.net/health/Periodontitis-and-Pregnancy.aspx">pregnant women</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8771712/">the elderly</a>. In the UK, antiseptic mouthwashes containing <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61912-4">chlorhexidine</a> are commonly used to treat dental plaque and gum disease. Unfortunately, these mouthwashes are a blunderbuss approach to oral health, as they indiscriminately remove both good and bad bacteria and increase oral acidity, which can cause disease. Worryingly, early research also indicates that chlorhexidine may contribute to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30967854/">antimicrobial resistance</a>. Resistance occurs when bacteria and fungi survive the effects of one or more <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768623/">antimicrobial drugs</a> due to repeated exposure to these treatments. Antimicrobial resistance is a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext">global health concern</a>, predicted to cause 10 million deaths yearly by the year 2050. In contrast, dietary nitrate is more targeted. Nitrate eliminates disease-associated bacteria, reduces oral acidity and creates a balanced <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2944498/">oral microbiome</a>. The oral microbiome refers to all the microorganisms in the mouth. Nitrate offers exciting potential as an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">oral health prebiotic</a>, which can be used to prevent disease onset or limit disease progression. <h2>How many leafy greens for pearly whites?</h2> So how much should we consume daily? As a rule of thumb, a generous helping of spinach, kale or beetroot at mealtimes contains about 6-10 mmol of nitrate and offers immediate health benefits. Work we have done with our collaborators has shown that treating <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69931-x">plaque samples</a> from periodontal disease patients with 6.5 mmol of nitrate increased healthy bacteria levels and reduced acidity. For example, consuming <a href="https://aap.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/JPER.20-0778">lettuce juice</a> for two weeks reduced gum inflammation and increased healthy bacteria levels in patients with gum disease. Growing evidence suggests that nitrate is a cornerstone of oral health. Crunching on a portion of vegetables at mealtimes can help to prevent or treat oral disease and keeps the mouth fresh and healthy.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221181/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mia-cousins-burleigh-1201153">Mia Cousins Burleigh</a>, Lecturer, School of Health and Life Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-west-of-scotland-1385">University of the West of Scotland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/siobhan-paula-moran-1506183">Siobhan Paula Moran</a>, PhD candidate, School of Health and Life Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-west-of-scotland-1385">University of the West of Scotland</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/eating-leafy-greens-could-be-better-for-oral-health-than-using-mouthwash-221181">original article</a>.

Body

15 hacks that make running errands so much better

Run errands during the week More than 90 per cent of people do errands on the weekends, meaning shops will be packed and traffic will be a nightmare. Running errands on a weeknight will get you in and out in half the time. Once the kids are in bed, have one parent stay home while the other drives to the shops. You’ll miss the crowds and keep your weekend free for fun and family. Turn on a podcast Radio music – and its deejays and commercials – can get intense. Switch off the FM and plug in your phone so you can listen to a podcast or audiobook. You’ll be more relaxed, and the time will fly as you get engrossed in the story. Make the most of your time Never run out for just one task. Save time, petrol, and stress by getting more than one thing done when you’re out of the house. After dropping your child off at soccer practice, drop off your dry cleaning or pick up the milk from the supermarket. Set up an errand centre in your home Keeping all the objects you’ll need to complete your errands – packages to be mailed, dry cleaning to be delivered, library books to be returned – in one place will make it easy to get out the door when you get the chance. Designate a space by the door or in your car as a visual reminder of what needs to get done. Buy in bulk Picking up big batches of items like toilet paper, dog food, and tampons means fewer trips to the supermarket and less time running errands. Plus, you save money by buying bulk packages or stocking up while the items are on sale. Use long lines for "me time" Instead of griping about how long your wait to the cash register is, think of it as a few peaceful moments to yourself. Close your eyes (don’t be self-conscious!) and imagine yourself sitting on a quiet beach or getting a massage. Take several deep breaths while you mentally escape to that place. You’ll be much more relaxed, and you can wait in line with less frustration. Practice mindfulness Performing a ‘walking meditation’ while you shop will keep you engaged with your task instead of letting your mind wander to other stressors. By the end of your trip, you’ll have more energy and less frustration. Pay attention to the bright colours of the produce, the scents wafting from the bakery, and the feeling of each step you take. Do someone else's errands If you have an elderly neighbour or know a mother with young kids, offer to add some of their tasks to your to-do list. Studies have shown that helping others can reduce stress. Tune out Instead of drowning out your thoughts with music, keep the radio off when you’re driving and allow your own thoughts to come to you. The stimuli of everyday life can be overwhelming, so this is your chance to recharge your energy in the silence. Keep a grocery list on your phone You probably buy the same things on most of your grocery runs. Instead of writing a new list every week, keep an ongoing list on your phone, which makes it easy to add and remove items. Organise your list in the order you’ll find them at the supermarket. For instance, if you start near the produce section, write the fruits and vegetables first. Reward yourself To keep yourself motivated while you’re out, add a little luxury to your shopping list. Treat yourself with nice bath soap, a bouquet of flowers, or your favourite craft beer. Keep an ongoing errands list Write down your usual tasks, along with the ones you keep forgetting to do, like buying socks for your child or making a vet appointment for the dog, in a notepad. Carry it with you so you don’t miss anything when you’re out. When you’re home, stash it where the rest of your family can access it and jot down their needs. Buy online as much as possible The possibilities are endless: order groceries, buy stamps, cash checks, and renew library books online. Giving your credit card number over a secured server is safer than stating your number over the phone, and sometimes safer than handing your card over at a store. Alternate tasks with your neighbours Make a deal with your neighbours in which you do the grocery shopping one week, and they take care of it the next. You can watch each other’s kids when it’s your turn to stay home, and both of you will make fewer trips to the supermarket. Or plan to go grocery shopping with a friend. You’ll have more fun with the social support, and your kids might behave better with someone else present. Have dad run errands with the kids Kids who cook, clean, and run errands with their dads have more friends and are better behaved, according to a University of California study. Make sure your partner (or you, if you’re a dad) takes the kids along every now and then. As a bonus, wives of men who do chores with their kids find their husbands more attractive. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/culture/15-hacks-that-make-running-errands-so-much-better?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Money & Banking

Christmas drinks anyone? Why alcohol before bedtime leaves you awake at 3am, desperate for sleep

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/madeline-sprajcer-1315489">Madeline Sprajcer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-gupta-347235">Charlotte Gupta</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-irwin-249481">Chris Irwin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grace-vincent-1484516">Grace Vincent</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saman-khalesi-366871">Saman Khalesi</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> You’ve come home after a long day at work, you have dinner, put the kids to bed, and then you have your usual nightcap before drifting off to sleep. Or, perhaps you’re at the pub for the work Christmas party, and you think you’ll just have one more drink before heading home. That last drink might help you fall asleep easily. But your nightcap can also wreck a good night’s sleep. How could it do both? Here’s what’s going on in your body when you drink alcohol just before bedtime. And if you want to drink at the Christmas party, we have some tips on how to protect your sleep. <h2>What happens to my body when I drink?</h2> Soon after you drink, alcohol enters your bloodstream and travels to your brain. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1998.tb03695.x">There</a>, it affects chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2700603/">slows down communication</a> between nerve cells. Certain <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4040959/">regions of the brain</a> are particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. When alcohol interacts with cells in these regions, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826822/">overall effect</a> leads to those characteristic feelings of relaxation, lowered inhibitions, slurred speech, and may induce feelings of drowsiness and lethargy. Alcohol can also have immediate effects on the heart and circulatory system. Blood vessels widen, resulting in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11906-021-01160-7">drop in blood pressure</a>, which can make you feel dizzy or lightheaded. <h2>What happens soon after a nightcap?</h2> Drinking alcohol before sleeping is like flipping a switch. At first, alcohol has a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826822/">sedative effect</a> and you will probably feel <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23347102/">more relaxed</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62227-0#:%7E:text=In%20this%20large%2C%20population%20based,sleep%20(cross%20sectional%20analyses).">drift off easily</a>. At this point, you still have a high level of alcohol in your blood. But don’t be fooled. As your body <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5821259/">processes the alcohol</a>, and the night goes on, alcohol actually <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acer.12621">disrupts your sleep</a>. <h2>And later that night?</h2> As your body processes the alcohol and your blood alcohol level drops, your brain rebounds from the drowsiness you would have felt earlier in the night. This disturbs your sleep, and can wake you up <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1300/J465v26n01_01">multiple times</a>, particularly in the second half of the night. You may also have vivid and stressful <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5821259/">dreams</a>. This sleep disruption is mainly to the deep, “rapid eye movement” or REM sleep. This type of sleep plays an important role in regulating your emotions and for your cognitive function. So not getting enough explains why you wake up feeling pretty lousy and groggy. Drinking alcohol before bedtime also tends to mean you <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775419/?source=post_page---------------------------">sleep less overall</a>, meaning important rest and recharge time is cut short. There are also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31234199/">long-term impacts</a> of alcohol on sleep. Moderate and heavy drinkers consistently have <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleepadvances/article/3/1/zpac023/6632721">poor sleep quality</a> and more <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62227-0#:%7E:text=In%20this%20large%2C%20population%20based,sleep%20(cross%20sectional%20analyses).">sleep disturbances</a> over time. <h2>How about the Christmas party then?</h2> If you plan to drink this holiday season, here are some tips to minimise the effect of alcohol on your sleep: <ul> <li> swap every other drink. Try swapping every second drink for a non-alcoholic drink. The more alcohol you drink, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/44/1/zsaa135/5871424?casa_token=okbJAuf8TXUAAAAA:ye_q-DACToxvj8H3IVaiKrjNkDhHZnl-LKJdds3iteaKyzJFuHUzitlRv45DqxNO-FraDRAlQMV53z8">the more</a> sleep disruption you can expect. Reducing how much you drink in any one sitting can minimise the effect on your sleep </li> <li> avoid drinking alcohol close to bedtime. If you give your body a chance to process the alcohol before you go to sleep, your sleep will be less disrupted </li> <li> eat while you drink. Drinking on an empty stomach is going to worsen the effects of alcohol as the alcohol will be absorbed <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00588.x?casa_token=TQiCqcbasYAAAAAA:GbEvnTT82aB3_sPfmJLOQXIV3ivjnbZdIoP2_XZBa8IDZ0YLaPxNfE6DMHLgH7obnpA22VDsM4vyGZV4dQ">faster</a>. So try to eat something while you’re drinking </li> <li> ditch the espresso martinis and other caffeinated drinks. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079207000937?casa_token=NJsobF-C-vwAAAAA:opzPjrglPdZTwXEo7rHil5vm0a1K3KmXw9vp0Het-eRHZEWbfRAA40vgicU3Z5kC8x7uEJF39C8">Caffeine</a> can make it hard to get to sleep, and hard to stay asleep </li> <li> be careful if you have sleep apnoea. People who have sleep apnoea (when their upper airway is repeatedly blocked during sleep) can be even more impacted by drinking alcohol. That’s because alcohol can act as a muscle relaxant, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/5/4/318/2753287">leading to</a> more snoring, and lower oxygen levels in the blood. If you have sleep apnoea, limiting how much alcohol you drink is the best way to avoid these effects </li> <li> drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated will help you <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/42/2/zsy210/5155420">sleep better</a> and will hopefully stave off the worst of tomorrow’s hangover.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216834/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> </li> </ul> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/madeline-sprajcer-1315489">Madeline Sprajcer</a>, Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-gupta-347235">Charlotte Gupta</a>, Postdoctoral research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-irwin-249481">Chris Irwin</a>, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences & Social Work, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grace-vincent-1484516">Grace Vincent</a>, Senior Lecturer, Appleton Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saman-khalesi-366871">Saman Khalesi</a>, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Nutrition, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/christmas-drinks-anyone-why-alcohol-before-bedtime-leaves-you-awake-at-3am-desperate-for-sleep-216834">original article</a>.

Body

"Do better": Baggage handlers captured recklessly throwing wheelchairs

American Airlines has been forced to apologise after two baggage handlers were captured recklessly throwing around wheelchairs. The video of the staffers was captured and posted to TikTok, showing two men in hi-vis at Miami Airport throwing a wheelchair down a slide. The chair hits the bottom with such force that it is catapulted off the chute. In the caption of the video, the poster revealed it was not the first mobility device to suffer such a fate, as she wrote, "Dang, after I saw them do this and laugh with the first two wheelchairs I had to get it on film." She added that it wasn't what she would call "handling with care" for a mobility device. <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7303306999909960990&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40haez93%2Fvideo%2F7303306999909960990%3Flang%3Den&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign.tiktokcdn-us.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast8-p-0068-tx2%2FoIRPINBLSaBIEAVIxqpEaik1LBxVjiEZAq5m5%3Fx-expires%3D1700863200%26x-signature%3DumASXIu6Qa1eNNxX0Jshk1pfrJQ%253D&key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> The video has racked up over 2 million viewers, with many flocking to the comments to share their thoughts. "This makes me rage. That is literally someone's lifeline," one person wrote. "Knowing our healthcare system that basic wheelchair was soooooo f-ing expensive," another added. A commenter clarified, "these chairs cost upwards of $3k plus. They aren't easily replaceable and insurance only covers new chairs every 5 years". Another person wrote, "From a wheelchair user, thank you for posting this and raising awareness," while another angry viewer simply wrote, "Do better American Airlines". After the video quickly went viral on social media, the airline issued a statement on the incident, as American Airlines spokesperson Amy Lawrence told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/11/20/american-airlines-wheelchair-miami-mishandling-video/71655649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> in a statement: "We recognise how important it is to support the independence of customers with disabilities by ensuring the proper care of mobility devices throughout their journey with us." "This visual is deeply concerning and we are gathering more details so that we can address them with our team. We will continue to work hard to improve our handling of assistive devices across our network." Image credits: TikTok

Travel Trouble

Homeowners often feel better about life than renters, but not always – whether you are mortgaged matters

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-ong-viforj-113482">Rachel Ong ViforJ</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hiroaki-suenaga-1477343">Hiroaki Suenaga</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-brierty-1477346">Ryan Brierty</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a> Homeownership has long been thought of as the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-23/why-australians-are-obsessed-with-owning-property/8830976">great Australian dream</a>. For individuals, it’s seen as the path to adulthood and prosperity. For the nation, it’s seen as a cornerstone of economic and social policy. Implicit in this is the assumption that owning a home rather than renting one makes people better off. It’s an assumption we are now able to examine using data from the government-funded <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda">Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia</a> (HILDA) survey, which for two decades has asked questions both about homeownership and satisfaction with life. The <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/4694137/ContinuingPersonQuestionnaireW23M.pdf">overarching question</a> asks "all things considered, how satisfied are you with your life? Pick a number between 0 and 10 to indicate how satisfied you are". We also looked at people’s satisfaction with their financial situation, their home and the neighbourhood in which they live. In a study published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980231190479">Urban Studies</a>, we linked those answers to home ownership and characteristics including age and income. As expected, we found homeowners were generally more satisfied with their lives than renters. But we also find the extent to which they were more satisfied depended on whether or not they were still paying off a mortgage. <h2>Mortgaged homeowners about as satisfied as renters</h2> Outright home owners were 1.5 times as likely to report high overall satisfaction as renters. But home owners still paying off a mortgage were only a little more likely to feel high overall satisfaction. Similarly, outright owners were 2.3 times as likely to report high financial satisfaction as renters – but mortgaged owners were only 1.1 times as likely. When it comes to satisfaction with their home and neighbourhood, the differences were less extreme. Outright home owners were 3.1 times as likely to report high satisfaction with their home as renters, while mortgaged owners were 2.8 times as likely. Outright owners were 1.6 times as likely to report high satisfaction with their neighbourhood as renters, and mortgaged owners 1.4 times as likely. The results also varied with age and income. <hr /> <iframe id="hK9Ua" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hK9Ua/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> As shown in the graph above, outright owners were more likely to report high financial satisfaction than renters across almost the entire age range. But mortgaged owners only showed a demonstrably greater financial satisfaction than renters between the ages of 25 and 50. Beyond age 50, the existence of a mortgage debt burden appeared to cancel out any boost to financial satisfaction from homeownership. This potentially reflects the growing financial stress of making mortgage payments as retirement approaches. <hr /> <iframe id="f2GSl" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/f2GSl/3/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> By income, mortgaged owners reported experiencing more financial satisfaction compared to renters the more they earned between A$80,000 and A$240,000. Outright owners experienced more financial satisfaction than renters up to A$320,000. Beyond these income levels, owners did not have greater financial satisfaction than renters, perhaps because high-earning renters have other sources of financial satisfaction. <h2>How satisfied people feel beyond 60</h2> In other respects, outright owners and mortgaged homeowners showed similar patterns, becoming more satisfied with their homes relative to renters the more they age up – until the age of 60. That’s when their satisfaction relative to renters declined, as illustrated below. This decline might reflect the growing physical burden of maintaining an owned home as people age. <hr /> <iframe id="oLrHz" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oLrHz/2/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> Our study has important implications. One is that age matters. Although older people consistently express a desire to <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/analysis/brief/whats-needed-make-ageing-place-work-older-australians">age in place</a>, we found satisfaction among those who owned vs rented their home declined beyond age 60. This suggests better integration between housing and care is critical to support people ageing in place. Another implication is that as low-income owners are more reliant on their homes as a source of relative financial satisfaction than high earners, they are <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/housing-equity-withdrawal-perceptions-of-obstacles-among-older-australian-home-owners-and-associated-service-providers/268F54A8EAA1E9ECA118E243505AA9FD">more exposed</a> in times of crisis. They may face the risk of being forced to sell suddenly with little time to consider the consequences. And another implication is as the relative financial satisfaction of mortgage holders disappears after the age of 50, and as more of us approach retirement with mortgages intact, more of us will either <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980211026578">postpone retirement</a> or become dissatisfied. Our findings suggest the extension of mortgage debt into later life should be discouraged if the benefits of the Australian dream are to be preserved.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215147/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-ong-viforj-113482">Rachel Ong ViforJ</a>, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hiroaki-suenaga-1477343">Hiroaki Suenaga</a>, Senior Lecturer School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-brierty-1477346">Ryan Brierty</a>, PhD candidate, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeowners-often-feel-better-about-life-than-renters-but-not-always-whether-you-are-mortgaged-matters-215147">original article</a>.

Home & Garden

The path to better hearing, today

In 1902, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who would very soon become Queen Consort of the United Kingdom alongside King Edward VII, found herself enraptured by a fascinating new device that was fast becoming the talk of Europe. The young princess had been fitted with one of the world’s first portable electric hearing aids, and it proved to be a life-changing success. Back in Denmark, the impact of this event became a clarion call to one Hans Demant, a bicycle manufacturer and purveyor of sewing machines. His wife, Camilla, also suffered from severe hearing loss and so, after a determined journey to London, Hans returned with a precious electric “Acousticon”. Witnessing Camilla’s progress served as a source of inspiration for Hans to extend his assistance to a broader community of individuals suffering with hearing loss, and so he initiated the import of hearing devices from America. In 1904, Hans Demant founded the company that would later become known as <a href="https://www.oticon.co.nz/">Oticon</a>, a name now synonymous with cutting-edge hearing solutions, paving the way for the modern hearing aids we know today and bringing new-found joy to millions worldwide. <h3>Hearing health</h3> Hearing health is a such critical aspect of our overall well-being, yet it often goes overlooked until problems arise. In New Zealand, hearing issues affect a surprisingly large portion of the population, with a 2022 EHIMA report estimating as many as one in ten New Zealanders are living with hearing loss. Sadly, a lack of awareness can lead to irregular hear- ing check-ups, which in turn leads to delayed diagnosis and treatment. <h3><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-50616" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/11/miniRITE_R_H1-2023_RightLeft_C090ChromaBeige_LEDgreen_Speaker60_OpenBassDome_500pctSize_w_shadow_1280.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="642" /></h3> <h3>A new world of sounds</h3> A far cry from the bulky hearing aids of over a century ago that were hailed as a miracle in the press and transformed Queen Alexandra’s life, the pinnacle of today’s devices – such as <a href="https://www.oticon.co.nz/hearing-aid-users/hearing-aids/products/real" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oticon Real™ hearing aids</a> – continue to change the way we experience the world of sound. With their advanced processing capabilities and state-of-the-art technology, Oticon Real can help get back the real sounds of life, precise and optimally balanced, whether it’s the laughter of grandchildren, musical notes or simply the rustling of leaves in the wind. One of the standout features of Oticon Real hearing aids is a unique technology called Deep Neural Network (DNN). This built-in intelligence has learned to recognise all types of sounds, their details, and how they should ideally sound. This means they can instantly adapt to changes, keeping you at your best wherever life takes you. By analysing and adjusting to your environment, Oticon Real hearing aids ensure that they provide what you need to hear. They do this by reducing background noise, which can help enhance speech comprehension and allow you to engage effortlessly in conversations, even in noisy settings. <h3>Connection is key</h3> In today’s digital age, connectivity is paramount, and Oticon Real hearing aids certainly rise to the challenge, offering seamless connectivity to compatible* smartphones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. You can effortlessly stream phone calls, music and other audio directly to your hearing aids, vastly enhancing your listening experience. <h3><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-50617" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/11/Oticon_Real_Still_Life_miniRITE_R_Wallet_JBS_24873_1280.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="863" /></h3> <h3>Improved quality of life</h3> Perhaps the most significant benefit of Oticon Real hearing aids is their positive impact on your quality of life. Improved hearing can lead to increased social engagement, better relationships and enhanced overall well-being. With the help of Oticon Real, you can participate more actively in social gatherings, make the most of your favourite activities and feel more connected to the world around you. Oticon Real hearing aids aren’t just devices; they are a life-changing gift that allow you to reconnect with the sounds and people you love. No longer are they fit just for a queen; they are readily available to anyone with the need and the longing to be truly present for life’s most cherished moments. For more information and to find your nearest hearing clinic, visit <a href="https://www.oticon.co.nz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oticon.co.nz</a> *For information on hearing aid and device compatibility, visit <a href="https://www.oticon.co.nz/compatibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.oticon.co.nz/compatibility</a> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-50618" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/11/Oticon_Real_miniRITE_R_9_colors_lineup_1280.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="125" /> All images: Supplied. This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with Oticon.

Hearing

How can I get some sleep? Which treatments actually work?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alexander-sweetman-1331085">Alexander Sweetman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jen-walsh-1468594">Jen Walsh</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-grivell-1468590">Nicole Grivell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> Do you have difficulty falling asleep? Do you stay awake for a long time at night? Do these sleep problems make you feel fatigued, strung-out, or exhausted during the day? Has this been happening for months? If so, you’re not alone. About <a href="https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/special-sleep-reports/chronic-insomnia-disorder-in-australia">12-15%</a> of Australian adults have chronic insomnia. You might have tried breathing exercises, calming music, white noise, going to bed in a dark and quiet bedroom, eating different foods in the evening, maintaining a regular sleep pattern, or reducing caffeine. But after three to four weeks of what seems like progress, your insomnia returns. What next? <h2>What not to do</h2> These probably won’t help: <ul> <li> spending more time in bed often results in more time spent awake in bed, which can make <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-i-stop-my-mind-racing-and-get-some-sleep-207904">insomnia patterns worse</a> </li> <li> drinking coffee and taking naps might help get you through the day. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/nope-coffee-wont-give-you-extra-energy-itll-just-borrow-a-bit-that-youll-pay-for-later-197897">caffeine</a> stays in the system for many hours, and can disrupt our sleep if you drink too much of it, especially after about 2pm. If naps last for more than 30 minutes, or occur after about 4pm, this can reduce your “sleep debt”, and can make it <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-fall-asleep-on-the-sofa-but-am-wide-awake-when-i-get-to-bed-208371">more difficult</a> to fall asleep in the evening </li> <li> drinking alcohol might help you fall asleep quicker, but <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1300/J465v26n01_01">can cause</a> more frequent awakenings, change how long you sleep, change the time spent in different “stages” of sleep, and reduce the overall quality of sleep. Therefore, it is not recommended as a sleep aid. </li> </ul> <h2>What to do next?</h2> If your symptoms have lasted more than one or two months, it is likely your insomnia requires targeted treatments that focus on sleep patterns and behaviours. So, the next stage is a type of non-drug therapy known as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (or <a href="https://www.sleepprimarycareresources.org.au/insomnia/cbti">CBTi</a> for short). This is a four to eight week treatment that’s been shown to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2022.101687">more effective</a> than sleeping pills. It involves education about sleep, and offers psychological and behavioural treatments that address the underlying causes of long-term insomnia. You can do this one-on-one, in a small group with health professionals trained in CBTi, or via self-guided <a href="https://www.sleepprimarycareresources.org.au/insomnia/cbti/referral-to-digital-cbti-programs">online programs</a>. Some GPs are trained to offer CBTi, but it’s more usual for specialist <a href="https://psychology.org.au/find-a-psychologist">sleep psychologists</a> to offer it. Your GP can refer you to one. There are some Medicare rebates to subsidise the cost of treatment. But many psychologists will also charge a gap fee above the Medicare subsidy, making access to CBTi a challenge for some. <a href="https://doi.org/10.12703%2Fr%2F11-4">About 70-80%</a> of people with insomnia sleep better after CBTi, with improvements lasting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.08.002">at least a year</a>. <h2>What if that doesn’t work?</h2> If CBTi doesn’t work for you, your GP might be able to refer you to a specialist sleep doctor to see if other sleep disorders, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2016.04.004">obstructive sleep apnoea</a>, are contributing to your insomnia. It can also be important to manage any mental health problems such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51200">depression and anxiety</a>, as well as physical symptoms such as pain that can also disrupt sleep. Some lifestyle and work factors, such as shift-work, might also require management by a specialist sleep doctor. <h2>What about sleeping pills?</h2> Sleeping pills are <a href="https://www.sleepprimarycareresources.org.au/insomnia/pharmacological-therapy">not the recommended</a> first-line way to manage insomnia. However, they do have a role in providing short-term, rapid relief from insomnia symptoms or when CBTi is not accessible or successful. Traditionally, medications such as benzodiazepines (for example, temazepam) and benzodiazepine receptor agonists (for example, zolpidem) have been used to help people sleep. However, these can have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38623.768588.47">side-effects</a> including a risk of falls, being impaired the next day, as well as tolerance and dependence. Melatonin – either prescribed or available from pharmacies for people aged 55 and over – is also often used to manage insomnia. But the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2022.101692">evidence suggests</a> it has limited benefits. <h2>Are there new treatments? How about medicinal cannabis?</h2> Two newer drugs, known as “orexin receptor antagonists”, are available in Australia (suvorexant and lemborexant). These block the wake-promoting pathways in the brain. <a href="https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.22nr03385">Early data suggests</a> they are effective in improving sleep, and have lower risk of potential side-effects, tolerance and dependence compared with earlier medicines. However, we don’t know if they work or are safe over the long term. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab149">Medicinal cannabis</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13793">has only in recent years</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleepadvances/zpac029.048">been studied</a> as a treatment for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleepadvances/zpac029.005">insomnia</a>. In an Australian survey, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2147/nss.s390583">more than half</a> of people using medicinal cannabis said they used it to treat insomnia. There are reports of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272241">significant benefit</a>. But of the four most robust studies so far, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab149">only one</a> (led by one of us, Jen Walsh) has demonstrated an improvement in insomnia after two weeks of treatment. So we need to learn more about which cannabinoids – for example, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol or cannabinol – and which doses may be beneficial. We also need to learn who can benefit most, and whether these are safe and effective over the long term. <h2>What now?</h2> If you’ve had trouble sleeping for a short time (under about a month) and nothing you try is working, there may be underlying reasons for your insomnia, which when treated, can provide some relief. Your GP can help identify and manage these. Your GP can also help you access other treatments if your insomnia is more long term. This may involve non-drug therapies and/or referral to other services or doctors. <hr /> For more information about insomnia and how it’s treated, see the Sleep Health Foundation’s <a href="https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-disorders/insomnia-2">online resource</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212964/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alexander-sweetman-1331085">Alexander Sweetman</a>, Research Fellow, College of Medicine and Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jen-walsh-1468594">Jen Walsh</a>, Director of the Centre for Sleep Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-grivell-1468590">Nicole Grivell</a>, Research Coordinator and final year PhD Candidate at FHMRI Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-i-get-some-sleep-which-treatments-actually-work-212964">original article</a>.

Body

How dangerous is insomnia? How fear of what it’s doing to your body can wreck your sleep

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leon-lack-1142">Leon Lack</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-lovato-60684">Nicole Lovato</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> I (Leon) have recently seen several patients who were concerned their insomnia symptoms would increase their risk for dementia. They were in their 70s and were awakening two or three times a night, which they took to be insomnia. But they were not impaired in the daytime in a way typical of insomnia. Their brief awakenings are normal for most people and <a href="https://theconversation.com/broken-sleep-its-a-rollercoaster-ride-1792">completely harmless</a>. Brief awakenings emerge from the periodic phases of light sleep that occur naturally between the four or five 90-minute deep sleep cycles. If you’re unaware of this “rollercoaster” of 90-minute cycles, you might think such awakenings are a sign of disease. In fact, they are perfectly normal and experienced more as people age when sleep naturally becomes lighter and shorter – <a href="https://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-you-need-eight-hours-of-continuous-sleep-each-night-5643">with no ill effect</a>. Therefore, I reassured them their sleep patters were normal and they did not have insomnia. This requires daytime impairments – fatigue, cognitive problems, mild depression, irritability, distress or anxiety – in addition to night time symptoms. I trust they were reassured, and so they avoided the type of fear and worry that would have triggered a cascade of events leading to insomnia. <h2>Is it really insomnia?</h2> So where did my patients get the notion their sleep symptoms could lead to dementia? Let’s pick apart this tsunami of alarming information. It usually starts with very <a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-018-1623-0">large surveys</a> that find a statistically significant relationship between measures of sleep problems and subsequently developing dementia. First, most of these studies ask participants to report how long they typically sleep. Those reporting less than six hours a night show a small but statistically elevated risk of developing dementia. These studies do not say if people have clinical insomnia diagnosed by a health professional. Instead they rely solely on participants guessing how long they’ve slept, which <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/25/5/559/2750164?login=false">can be inaccurate</a>. The studies would have also included many people without insomnia who are not allowing themselves adequate opportunity for sleep. Perhaps they’d been in the habit of socialising or playing computer games late at night. In other words, we don’t know what proportion of these short-sleepers are simply over-estimating their sleep problems, or restricting their sleep and experiencing chronic sleep loss rather than insomnia. <h2>What do the numbers really mean?</h2> A second problem is with interpreting the meaning of “statistically significant”. This only means the results were unlikely to be due to pure chance. If a single study shows a 20% increased risk of a physical health problem associated with insomnia, how worried should we be? This single finding does not necessarily mean it’s worth considering in our everyday lives. Studies relating insomnia to health risks are also typically inconsistent. For example, although some studies have found small increases in dementia risk with having insomnia, a very <a href="https://mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/ebmental/26/1/e300719.full.pdf">large UK study</a> did not find any relationship between the amount of sleep or sleeping difficulties and dementia risk. <h2>What’s the context?</h2> A third problem is communicating a balanced perspective to the public about the potential dangers of insomnia. Some in the mainstream media, with the help of the researcher’s institution, will report on studies showing a statistically significant increase in the risk of a frightening disease, such as dementia. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/essays-on-health-reporting-medical-news-is-too-important-to-mess-up-68920">not all media reports</a> ask about how clinically meaningful the risk is, whether there are alternative explanations, or how this result compares with what other researchers have found. So the public is left with no context to temper the scary, “increased risk” narrative. This narrative is then shared on social media, amplifying the scary finding. <h2>Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure</h2> We’ve used dementia as one example of how fears about potential risks to physical health from insomnia arise and are magnified. But we could have used a potential increased risk of obesity, diabetes or high blood pressure. All have been associated with shorter sleep, but researchers are debating whether these links are real, meaningful or related to insomnia. When we looked at the impact of sleep problems on life expectancy, we found <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30529432/">no evidence</a> sleep symptoms alone shorten your life. Only when daytime symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems and distress are included is there a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36016-4">small increased risk</a> of dying prematurely. However, it’s difficult to know if that excess mortality can be explained by undiagnosed heart, kidney, liver or brain disease causing those daytime symptoms. <h2>We should be talking about mental health</h2> However, there is stronger evidence of increased <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness-49597">mental health</a> problems, especially depression, with insomnia. The typical daytime impairments of fatigue, distress, cognitive impairments and irritability certainly lower the quality of life. Life becomes more of a challenge and less enjoyable. Over time, this can trigger <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness-49597">hopelessness and depression</a> in some people. This is enough reason to seek help to improve sleep and quality of life. People with these problems should seek help from a health practitioner. The good news is there is an effective, long-term, non-drug treatment with no side effects – cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia <a href="https://bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2296-13-40">or CBTi</a>. Even better, successful CBTi also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389945720303828">decreases</a> symptoms of depression and other mental distress. What is not helpful is unnecessary fear triggered by reports suggesting serious physical health dangers of insomnia. This fear is only likely to increase insomnia rather than mitigate it. <hr /> If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212248/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leon-lack-1142">Leon Lack</a>, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-lovato-60684">Nicole Lovato</a>, Associate Professor, Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dangerous-is-insomnia-how-fear-of-what-its-doing-to-your-body-can-wreck-your-sleep-212248">original article</a>.

Body

What’s insomnia like for most people who can’t sleep? You’d never know from the movies

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/aaron-schokman-1463327">Aaron Schokman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-glozier-94435">Nick Glozier</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Hollywood appears fascinated by sleep’s impact on the mind and body. Blockbuster movies featuring someone living with insomnia include <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108160/">Sleepless in Seattle</a> (1993), <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/">Fight Club</a> (1999) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278504/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Insomnia</a> (2002). But how well do these and other portrayals compare with what it’s really like to live with insomnia? As we’ll see, most movies tend to either minimise or exaggerate symptoms. Insomnia is rarely depicted as a treatable illness. And these portrayals have implications for the estimated <a href="https://www.sleep.theclinics.com/article/S1556-407X(22)00022-4/fulltext">one in three</a> of us with at least one insomnia symptom. <h2>Back in the real world</h2> Insomnia is a common <a href="https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.14-0970">sleep disorder</a> where a person struggles to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wakes up too early – despite having adequate opportunity for sleep. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.2012.00845.x">Around 5%</a> of adults experience significant insomnia to the degree that it causes distress or impairs daily life. It’s a common misconception that insomnia is only a night-time issue. <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/insomnia">Insomnia</a> can impact your ability to stay awake and alert during the day. It can also affect your <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness-49597">mental health</a>. At work, you might be more prone to accidents, more forgetful, or make poorer decisions. At home, you might be irritable or short with your friends and family. So what is it like living with insomnia? Apart from the effects of poor sleep quality, many people experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101583">anxiety or dread</a> about the night ahead from the moment they wake up. From early in the day, people plan how they can improve their sleep that night. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2016.01.003">A review</a> found people living with insomnia felt their sleep concerns were often trivialised or misunderstood by health-care professionals, and stigmatised by others. <h2>Movies can minimise symptoms …</h2> Nicholas Galitzine’s character in the recent romcom <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10172266/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Red, White and Royal Blue</a> (2023) has insomnia. We’re briefly told he struggles to fall asleep at night. However, we never see any meaningful impact on his life or depiction of the difficulty living with insomnia entails. That said, minimising the impact of insomnia can have benefits. It shows insomnia is an invisible illness, doesn’t have obvious visual symptoms and anyone can have it. But this can perpetuate the expectation someone with insomnia should be able to function unencumbered. Or it can fuel the misconception having insomnia may be beneficial, as in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050543/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Insomnia Is Good for You</a> (1957). <h2>… or exaggerate symptoms</h2> But most Hollywood portrayals of insomnia tend to depict the most extreme cases. These usually feature insomnia as a symptom of another condition rather than a disorder itself, as is commonly experienced. These movies tend to be psychological thrillers. Here, insomnia is often used as an enigma to keep the audience guessing about which events are real or figments of a character’s imagination. Take <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361862/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Machinist</a> (2004), for example. The main character is emaciated, ostracised and plagued by paranoia, hallucinations and delusions. It’s only towards the end of the movie we learn his insomnia may be the result of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.9740/mhc.n101819">psychiatric disorder</a>, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-R4rQMImHwE?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>In The Machinist, the main character has paranoia, hallucinations and delusions.</figcaption></figure> Hollywood’s focus on extreme cases of insomnia is a recurring pattern (for instance, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/">Fight Club</a> 1999, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434165/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3">Lucid</a> 2005). It’s understandable why Hollywood latches onto these extreme portrayals – to entertain us. Yet these portrayals of insomnia as something more severe or threatening, like psychosis, can increase anxiety or stigma among people living with insomnia. While it’s true other medical conditions including <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness-49597">mental illnesses</a> can lead to insomnia, insomnia often exists on its own. Insomnia is often <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-insomnia-and-what-can-you-do-about-it-36365">caused by</a> more mundane things like too much stress, lifestyle and habits, or longer daylight hours at higher latitudes (such as in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278504/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Insomnia</a>, 2002). Something these exaggerated portrayals do well is highlight the impact sleep deprivation can have on safety, albeit extremely dramatised. Regardless of profession, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000717">not getting enough sleep</a> at night can substantially impact cognitive function, increasing the chance of making a mistake. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/emIHzg4VH8A?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>In Insomnia, one character has insomnia because of extended daylight hours.</figcaption></figure> <h2>Movies rarely depict treatment</h2> It is rare to see insomnia depicted as a health condition requiring medical care. Very few characters struggling with insomnia seek or receive help for it. An exception is the narrator in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/">Fight Club</a> (1999). But he has to pretend to have other illnesses to receive therapy, again suggesting insomnia is not a legitimate condition. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BdJKm16Co6M?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>The narrator in Fight Club pretends to have other illnesses to receive therapy for insomnia.</figcaption></figure> <h2>Why does accurate representation matter?</h2> Many people only learn about the symptoms and impact of sleep disorders through pop culture and film. These portrayals can affect how others think about these disorders and can impact how people living with these disorders think about themselves. Uniform and stereotypical portrayals of insomnia can also impact people’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2011.620671">likelihood of seeking help</a>. Most of these films show young or middle-aged men experiencing insomnia. Yet women are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/29.1.85">more likely</a> to have insomnia than men. Insomnia is also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2022.03.003">more common</a> in older adults, people with a lower socioeconomic background and those living alone. People at higher risk of developing insomnia might not recognise their risk or symptoms if their experience doesn’t match what they’ve seen. <h2>We can do better</h2> While the reality of living with insomnia may not be particularly cinematic, filmmakers can surely do better than using it as a convenient plot point. There are a number of main characters living with different health conditions across pop culture. For instance, the movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4034228/">Manchester by the Sea</a> (2016) features someone with <a href="https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-features/blogs/detail/cultural-blog/2017/07/08/manchester-by-the-sea">prolonged grief disorder</a> and the TV series <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6315640/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Atypical">Atypical</a> (2017-2021) features someone’s experience living with autism. But if you’re looking for an accurate portrayal of insomnia, Hollywood still has some way to go. It’s about time insomnia is depicted in a way that accurately reflects people’s experiences.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211823/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/aaron-schokman-1463327">Aaron Schokman</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-glozier-94435">Nick Glozier</a>, Professor of Psychological Medicine, BMRI & Disciplne of Psychiatry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-insomnia-like-for-most-people-who-cant-sleep-youd-never-know-from-the-movies-211823">original article</a>.

Body

6 common factors that are impacting your sleep

While we all do our best to make sure we’re get our eight hours every night, at times it can feel as though we’re our own worst enemies. And while we’re all aware of the importance of sleep, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out what the root of the problem is. Here are six common factors that may be negatively impacting your ability to get shut eye. Correct these and you’ll be on your way to enjoy a good night sleep. 1. Light Studies have shown the exposure to light can wreak havoc in terms of our internal circadian rhythm. Try to avoid having your vision obstructed by any light when you’re about to get to sleep and keep the use of mobile and computer devices to a minimum. 2. Food Asides from the correlation between poor quality sleep and processed foods, it’s generally not recommended you have large, heavy meals just before you’re about to go to bed. Also, try to avoid sugar and caffeine in the few hours leading to bedtime. 3. Noise Noise can also affect the pattern of your sleep as anyone who’s tossed and turned at the sound of a neighbour’s party. Earplugs are one option you can explore. It’s also an idea to perhaps try a light fan to drown the noise out somewhat, or some sort of gentle recording. 4. Temperature Each person has an optimal temperature for falling asleep and it varies between people. If you’re feeling a bit hot under the collar (or too cool to start sleeping) it’s worth experimenting with the temperature in your room until you find one that better suits. 5. Schedule Are bodies are fiends for routines, so try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekend. Not only will this help integrate your body into a regular sleep/wake pattern, it will also make the actual process of falling asleep seem much easier. 6. Naps While there’s nothing quite as nice as an afternoon nap during the day, it can actually significantly disrupt out sleep patterns during the night. If you really do have to nap during the day, try to keep it short and avoid napping too much in the later parts of the day. Image credits: Getty Images

Body

9 tricky ways to clean your house while you sleep

1. Soak a showerhead Mineral deposits can clog a showerhead and affect its pressure over time. To clean, fill a plastic bag with vinegar. Place the bag around the showerhead, submerging it in the liquid. Secure the bag to the neck of the showerhead with a twist tie and leave overnight. The vinegar will break down the buildup by morning. 2. Remove stains on pots and pans If a batch of cookies left your baking sheet gunky, let a dryer sheet clean it overnight. Place the sheet on the pan and fill with warm water. Cleaning agents in the dryer sheet will help loosen stuck-on grime and stains. In the morning, easily wipe off with a sponge. 3. Polish stove grates Cleaning greasy, food-splattered stove burners can be a tiresome chore. Before you go to bed, seal each burner in a large plastic bag with ¼ cup of ammonia. The overnight soak will make it easy to wipe off the surface with a sponge the following day. 4. Banish rust on tools If your rusty tools have seen better days, fill a tray with Coca-Cola. Submerge the tools, allow to soak overnight, and scrub clean with a stiff brush in the morning. The soda’s phosphoric acid will help loosen the gunk. 5. Eliminate wet messes If your sofa or carpet became the victim of an icky, wet mess (say, vomit or urine), mix a paste of baking soda and water to soak it up. Use a spoon to spread the paste over the soiled area. Allow to dry overnight, then vacuum in the morning. 6. Descale a kettle Limescale can build up from calcium carbonate deposits in water, leading to an off-white, chalky deposit in your kettle. To clean, cut a lemon into large slices, place in the kettle, and add water. Bring to a boil, then take the kettle off the heat and leave overnight. The lemon’s citric acid will loosen the limescale. Toss the fruit and water mixture in the morning and rinse before using your newly cleaned kettle. 7. Clean bath toys To make grubby rubber duckies, boats, and other bath toys new again, mix one gallon warm water with ¾ cup vinegar. Soak the toys overnight. Rinse thoroughly and allow to air dry. 8. Make diamonds sparkle Quickly polish a diamond ring by filling a bottle cap with Windex. Soak the ring overnight and dry with a soft cloth in the morning to remove grime and add shine. 9. Remove red wine stains If red wine marked up your favorite garment, sprinkle the stain with salt and cover with club soda. The salt absorbs the stain while the club soda’s carbonation and sodium helps lift it. Leave overnight before laundering. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/diy-tips/9-ways-clean-house-your-sleep" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Home & Garden

Handkerchief or tissue? Which one’s better for our health and the planet?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-patrick-taylor-11394">Mark Patrick Taylor</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hester-joyce-122106">Hester Joyce</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Maybe you have hay fever, COVID, a cold or the flu, and are reaching for a tissue or handkerchief. But which one’s better at stopping infections spreading? Which has a smaller environmental impact? Is it the hanky, which has been with us since at least Roman times? Or the more recent and widely-used paper tissue? You might be surprised at the results. <h2>A short history of the handkerchief and tissue</h2> Today, we think of hankies as something to wipe noses, and catch coughs and sneezes. But such a simple square of cloth has a complex history. In the first century, the Romans <a href="http://margaretroedesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/HandkerchiefHist.pdf">used</a> a sudarium (Latin for sweat cloth) to wipe off sweat, or to mask the mouth and face. Over time, people have used what we now call a handkerchief or hanky, as a head covering, as a veil and for disguise, to clean hands, for wounds and to staunch blood. Wealthy people have used them to signify class and manners, and for discretely wiping away phlegm rather than smearing snot on sleeves or down skirts. Royalty have used them to indicate wealth and power through their gifts of fine linen and silk handkerchiefs to favoured subjects. Henry VIII owned an extensive collection, some embossed with gold and silver. Handkerchiefs have also been <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/italian-handkerchief">markers of</a> love, fidelity and sexual preferences. In the late 19th century the “handkerchief code” was a system of colour coding and handkerchief placement used to indicate sexual preferences, <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-au/lgbtq-secret-handkerchief-code-language">which is still active</a> in LGBTQ+ communities today. We can <a href="https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/epub/10.3366/cult.2020.0214">trace the origins</a> of paper tissue to China in the 2nd century BC. But it wasn’t until the 1920s that tissue as we know it today <a href="https://www.kleenex.co.uk/kleenex-history">was developed</a> to remove make-up and wipe runny noses from hay fever. <h2>So, which one is better for our health?</h2> More than 100 years ago, a cloth hanky was considered a “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5248216/pdf/hosplond73063-0008b.pdf">little flag of Death</a>” because of the germs it carried and how it contaminated pockets it was left in. Later, we were urged to use a hanky <a href="http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101449736">as</a> “coughs and sneezes spread diseases”. <figure class="align-right zoomable"><figcaption></figcaption></figure> Today, we know nasal secretions harbour cold-type viruses that can be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmv.22027">transferred</a> to a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2011/06/02/3231404.htm">range of surfaces</a> – hands, handkerchiefs, tissues, door knobs, keyboards – sometimes surviving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113473">long after</a> the initial exposure. So blowing your nose into a reusable cotton hanky, then touching another object, means these viruses can spread. Even if you put your cotton hanky in the wash immediately, you’d likely contaminate surfaces on the way, such as doorknobs, and use your infected hands to operate the washing machine. Viruses don’t tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/146.1.47">survive so long</a> on tissues. As long as you throw tissues away after using them, and don’t leave them lying around for others to pick up, the chance of passing germs to others from a used tissue is far lower. Then there’s the question of whether hankies or tissues are effective barriers to coughing and respiratory spray. Basic cloth coverings, such as handkerchiefs or bandannas, can catch sputum, as can tissues. But several studies have shown they do not effectively <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02211">filter</a> <a href="https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-13-06-oa-0201.pdf">respiratory aerosols</a>, or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/153567601001500204">stop you inhaling</a> pollutants, pathogens or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.03.012">small airborne particles</a>. <h2>Which one is better for the planet?</h2> If you want to look at environmental considerations, US company Ecosystem Analytics <a href="https://ecosystem-analytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Complete-LCA-Facial-Tissue-Handkerchief.pdf">compared</a> resusable cotton hankies to disposable paper tissues using a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978505">lifecycle analysis</a>. It considered four measures of environmental impacts associated with production, transport, use and disposal: <ul> <li> climate change (sum of greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, nitrous oxide and CFCs) </li> <li> ecosystem quality (chemical pollution of land and water) </li> <li> human health (carcinogenic and non‐carcinogenic toxicity to humans) </li> <li> resources (total energy requirements of non‐renewable energy and mineral extraction). </li> </ul> The verdict? Across the four measures, a cotton hanky had five to seven times greater impact than an equivalent tissue. And, by far, the greatest impacts were related to the production of each of these products, rather than using or disposing of them. If you’re still keen to use a cotton hanky, you could opt for organic cotton, which has a <a href="https://www.sei.org/publications/ecological-footprint-water-analysis-cotton-hemp-polyester/">lower ecological footprint</a> compared to standard cotton produced in the same location. But organic cotton production has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/is-organic-cotton-better-for-the-environment/">lower yields</a> than its conventional equivalent, meaning more land is needed to produce an equivalent amount, compounding the total environmental impact. If you want to feel better about using tissues, ones made from recycled material may be a better option. Their manufacture leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-013-0597-x">fewer</a> greenhouse gas emissions compared with making regular tissues. <h2>The verdict</h2> Wiping our noses with paper tissues we dispose of properly after use (and don’t store in our pocket), made from recycled material, is preferable from both a health and environmental perspective. But tissues don’t quite have the same panache as the historic and versatile cloth hanky.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213065/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-patrick-taylor-11394">Mark Patrick Taylor</a>, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hester-joyce-122106">Hester Joyce</a>, Adjunct Associate Professor, Creative Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/handkerchief-or-tissue-which-ones-better-for-our-health-and-the-planet-213065">original article</a>.

Caring

Are fish oil supplements as healthy as we think? And is eating fish better?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evangeline-mantzioris-153250">Evangeline Mantzioris</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> Fish oil, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, is promoted for a number of health benefits – from boosting our heart health, protecting our brain from dementia, and easing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. But what exactly are omega-3 fats and what does the evidence say about their benefits for keeping us healthy? And if they are good for us, does eating fish provide the same benefit as supplements? <h2>What are omega-3 fats?</h2> Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid. They are essential to consume in our diet because we can’t make them in our body. Three main types of omega-3 fats are important in our diet: <ul> <li> alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is found in plant foods such as green leafy vegetables, walnuts, flaxseed and chia seeds </li> <li> eicosapentanoic acid (EPA), which is only found in seafood, eggs (higher in free-range rather than cage eggs) and breast milk </li> <li> docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is also only found in seafood, eggs (again, higher in free-range eggs) and breast milk. </li> </ul> Omega 3s are key to the structure of our cells, and help keep our heart, lungs, blood vessels, and immune system working. <h2>Eating fish vs taking a supplement</h2> The initial studies suggesting omega-3 fats may have health benefits came from <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.0954-6820.1976.tb08198.x">observational studies on people eating fish</a>, not from fish oil. So are the “active ingredients” from supplements – the EPA and DHA – absorbed into our body in the same way as fish? An <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523281484">intervention study</a> (where one group was given fish and one group fish oil supplements) found the levels of EPA and DHA in your body increase in a similar way when you consume equal amounts of them from either fish or fish oil. But this assumes it is just the omega-3 fats that provide health benefits. There are other <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/afcd/pages/default.aspx">components of fish</a>, such as protein, vitamins A and D, iodine, and selenium that could be wholly or jointly responsible for the health benefits. The health benefits seen may also be partially due to the absence of certain nutrients that would have otherwise been consumed from other types of meat (red meat and processed meat) such as saturated fats and salt. <h2>So what are the benefits of omega 3 fats? And does the source matter?</h2> Let’s consider the evidence for heart disease, arthritis and dementia. Heart disease For cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and stroke), a <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003177.pub3/full">meta-analysis</a>, which provides the highest quality evidence, has shown fish oil supplementation probably makes little or no difference. Another <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/8/2278">meta-analysis</a> found for every 20 grams per day of fish consumed it reduced the risk of coronary heart disease by 4%. The <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/getmedia/f1d22267-7381-4513-834b-df317bed9a40/Nutrition_Position_Statement_-_DIETARY_FAT_FINAL-4.pdf">National Heart Foundation</a> recommends, based on the scientific evidence, eating fish rich in omega-3 fats for optimal heart health. <a href="https://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/17/3/385.pdf">Fish vary in their omega-3 levels</a> and generally the fishier they taste the more omega-3 fats they have – such as tuna, salmon, deep sea perch, trevally, mackeral and snook. The foundation says fish oil may be beneficial for people with heart failure or high triglycerides, a type of fat that circulates in the blood that increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. But it doesn’t recommend fish oil for reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases (heart attack and stroke). Arthritis For rheumatoid arthritis, <a href="https://arthritis-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13075-022-02781-2">studies</a> have shown fish oil supplements do provide benefits in reducing the severity and the progression of the disease. Eating fish also leads to these improvements, but as the level of EPA and DHA needed is high, often it’s difficult and expensive to consume that amount from fish alone. <a href="https://arthritisaustralia.com.au/managing-arthritis/living-with-arthritis/complementary-treatments-and-therapies/fish-oils/">Arthritis Australia</a> recommends, based on the evidence, about 2.7 grams of EPA and DHA a day to reduce joint inflammation. Most supplements contain about 300-400mg of omega-3 fats. So depending on how much EPA and DHA is in each capsule, you may need nine to 14 capsules (or five to seven capsules of fish oil concentrate) a day. This is about 130g-140g of grilled salmon or mackeral, or 350g of canned tuna in brine (almost four small tins). Dementia <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0952327807001421?via%3Dihub">Epidemiological studies</a> have shown a positive link between an increased DHA intake (from diet) and a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0952327807001421?via%3Dihub">Animal studies</a> have shown DHA can alter markers that are used to assess brain function (such as accumulation of amyloid – a protein thought to be linked to dementia, and damage to tau protein, which helps stabilise nerve cells in the brain). But this hasn’t been shown in humans yet. A systematic review of <a href="http://betamedarts.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/31Psychiatriki03_2020.pdf#page=58">multiple studies in people</a> has shown different results for omega-3 fats from supplements. In the two studies that gave omega-3 fats as supplements to people with dementia, there was no improvement. But when given to people with mild cognitive impairment, a condition associated with increased risk of progressing to dementia, there was an improvement. Another <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25446949/">meta-anlayses</a> (a study of studies) showed a higher intake of fish was linked to lower risk of Alzheimers, but this relationship was not observed with total dietary intake of omega-3 fats. This indicates there may be other protective benefits derived from eating fish. In line with the evidence, the <a href="https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-factors-and-prevention/omega-3-and-dementia#:%7E:text=This%20could%20suggest%20that%20taking,its%20own%20may%20not%20be.">Alzheimer’s Society</a> recommends eating fish over taking fish oil supplements. <h2>So what’s the bottom line?</h2> The more people stick to a healthy, plant-based diet with fish and minimal intakes of ultra-processed foods, the better their health will be. At the moment, the evidence suggests fish oil is beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis, particularly if people find it difficult to eat large amounts of fish. For dementia and heart disease, it’s best to try to eat your omega-3 fats from your diet. While plant foods contain ALA, this will not be as efficient as increasing EPA and DHA levels in your body by eating seafood. Like any product that sits on the shop shelves, check the use-by date of the fish oil and make sure you will be able to consume it all by then. The chemical structure of EPA and DHA makes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224421005422">it susceptible to degradation</a>, which affects its nutritional value. Store it in cold conditions, preferably in the fridge, away from light. Fish oil can have some annoying side effects, such as fishy burps, but generally there are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3664575/">minimal serious side effects</a>. However, it’s important to discuss taking fish oil with all your treating doctors, particularly if you’re on other medication.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212250/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evangeline-mantzioris-153250">Evangeline Mantzioris</a>, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-fish-oil-supplements-as-healthy-as-we-think-and-is-eating-fish-better-212250">original article</a>.

Body

Do blue-light glasses really work? Can they reduce eye strain or help me sleep?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-downie-1469379">Laura Downie</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Blue-light glasses are said to <a href="https://www.baxterblue.com.au/collections/blue-light-glasses">reduce eye strain</a> when using <a href="https://www.blockbluelight.com.au/collections/computer-glasses">computers</a>, improve your <a href="https://www.ocushield.com/products/anti-blue-light-glasses">sleep</a> and protect your eye health. You can buy them yourself or your optometrist can prescribe them. But <a href="https://mivision.com.au/2019/03/debate-continues-over-blue-blocking-lenses/">do they work</a>? Or could they do you harm? We <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013244.pub2/full">reviewed</a> the evidence. Here’s what we found. <h2>What are they?</h2> Blue-light glasses, blue light-filtering lenses or blue-blocking lenses are different terms used to describe lenses that reduce the amount of short-wavelength visible (blue) light reaching the eyes. Most of these lenses prescribed by an optometrist decrease blue light transmission by <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/opo.12615">10-25%</a>. Standard (clear) lenses do not filter blue light. A wide variety of lens products are available. A filter can be added to prescription or non-prescription lenses. They are widely marketed and are becoming <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/opo.12615">increasingly popular</a>. There’s often an added cost, which depends on the specific product. So, is the extra expense worth it? <h2>Blue light is all around us</h2> Outdoors, sunlight is the main source of blue light. Indoors, light sources – such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the screens of digital devices – emit varying degrees of blue light. The amount of blue light emitted from artificial light sources is much lower than from the Sun. Nevertheless, artificial light sources are all around us, at home and at work, and we can spend a lot of our time inside. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549210/original/file-20230920-16-tsb23b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Blue light-filtering lenses block some blue light from screens from reaching the eye" /></a><figcaption>Screens emit blue light. The lenses are designed to reduce the amount of blue light that reaches the eye. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/blue-light-blocking-ray-filter-lens-2286229107">Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Our research team at the University of Melbourne, along with collaborators from Monash University and City, University London, sought to see if the best available evidence supports using blue light-filtering glasses, or if they could do you any harm. So we conducted a <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013244.pub2/full">systematic review</a> to bring together and evaluate all the relevant studies. We included all randomised controlled trials (clinical studies designed to test the effects of interventions) that evaluated blue light-filtering lenses in adults. We identified 17 eligible trials from six countries, involving a total of 619 adults. <h2>Do they reduce eye strain?</h2> We found no benefit of using blue light-filtering lenses, over standard (clear) lenses, to reduce eye strain with computer use. This conclusion was based on consistent findings from three studies that evaluated effects on eye strain over time periods ranging from two hours to five days. <h2>Do they help you sleep?</h2> Possible effects on sleep were uncertain. Six studies evaluated whether wearing blue-light filtering lenses before bedtime could improve sleep quality, and the findings were mixed. These studies involved people with a diverse range of medical conditions, including insomnia and bipolar disorder. Healthy adults were not included in the studies. So we do not yet know whether these lenses affect sleep quality in the general population. <h2>Do they boost your eye health?</h2> We did not find any clinical evidence to support using blue-light filtering lenses to protect the macula (the region of the retina that controls high-detailed, central vision). None of the studies evaluated this. <h2>Could they do harm? How about causing headaches?</h2> We could not draw clear conclusions on whether there might be harms from wearing blue light-filtering lenses, compared with standard (non blue-light filtering) lenses. Some studies described how study participants had headaches, lowered mood and discomfort from wearing the glasses. However, people using glasses with standard lenses reported similar effects. <h2>What about other benefits or harms?</h2> There are some important general considerations when interpreting our findings. First, most of the studies were for a relatively short period of time, which limited our ability to consider longer-term effects on vision, sleep quality and eye health. Second, the review evaluated effects in adults. We don’t yet know if the effects are different for children. Finally, we could not draw conclusions about the possible effects of blue light-filtering lenses on many vision and eye health measures, including colour vision, as the studies did not evaluate these. <h2>In a nutshell</h2> Overall, based on relatively limited published clinical data, our review does not support using blue-light filtering lenses to reduce eye strain with digital device use. It is unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep, and no conclusions can be drawn about any potential effects on the health of the retina. High-quality research is needed to answer these questions, as well as whether the effectiveness and safety of these lenses varies in people of different ages and health status. If you have eye strain, or other eye or vision concerns, discuss this with your optometrist. They can perform a thorough examination of your eye health and vision, and discuss any relevant treatment options.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213145/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-downie-1469379">Laura Downie</a>, Associate Professor in Optometry and Vision Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-blue-light-glasses-really-work-can-they-reduce-eye-strain-or-help-me-sleep-213145">original article</a>.

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What do people think about when they go to sleep?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melinda-jackson-169319">Melinda Jackson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hailey-meaklim-151642">Hailey Meaklim</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> You’re lying in bed, trying to fall asleep but the racing thoughts won’t stop. Instead, your brain is busy making detailed plans for the next day, replaying embarrassing <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanhdlombard/video/7052464974324583681?q=sleep%20thoughts&t=1693536926124">moments</a> (“why did I say that?”), or producing seemingly random thoughts (“where is my birth certificate?”). Many social media users have shared <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@komasawn/video/7267320333613419818">videos</a> on how to fall asleep faster by <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lilslvrtt/video/7225272823562997000">conjuring</a> up “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ekai.is.okay/video/7169530076143439131?q=fake%20scenario%20fall%20asleep&t=1693537172625">fake scenarios</a>”, such as a romance storyline where you’re the main character. But what does the research say? Does what we think about before bed influence how we sleep? <h2>How you think in bed affects how you sleep</h2> It turns out people who sleep well and those who sleep poorly have different kinds of thoughts before bed. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079219302217">Good sleepers report</a> experiencing mostly visual sensory images as they drift to sleep – seeing people and objects, and having dream-like experiences. They may have less ordered thoughts and more hallucinatory experiences, such as imagining you’re participating in events in the real world. For people with insomnia, pre-sleep thoughts tend to be less visual and more focused on planning and problem-solving. These thoughts are also generally more unpleasant and less random than those of good sleepers. People with insomnia are also more likely to stress about sleep as they’re trying to sleep, leading to a vicious cycle; putting effort into sleep actually wakes you up more. People with insomnia often <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/014466500163284">report</a> worrying, planning, or thinking about important things at bedtime, or focusing on problems or noises in the environment and having a general preoccupation with not sleeping. Unfortunately, all this pre-sleep mental activity can prevent you drifting off. One <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/27/1/69/2707948">study</a> found even people who are normally good sleepers can have sleep problems if they’re stressed about something at bedtime (such as the prospect of having to give a speech when they wake up). Even <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17884278/">moderate levels of stress at bedtime</a> could affect sleep that night. Another <a href="https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/full/10.5664/jcsm.6704">study</a> of 400 young adults looked at how binge viewing might affect sleep. The researchers found higher levels of binge viewing were associated with poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and increased insomnia symptoms. “Cognitive arousal”, or mental activation, caused by an interesting narrative and identifying with characters, could play a role. The good news is there are techniques you can use to change the style and content of your pre-sleep thoughts. They could help reduce nighttime cognitive arousal or to replace unwanted thoughts with more pleasant ones. These techniques are called “cognitive refocusing”. <h2>What is cognitive refocusing?</h2> Cognitive refocusing, developed by US psychology researcher <a href="https://artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/people/faculty/gellis-phd-les-a/">Les Gellis</a>, involves distracting yourself with pleasant thoughts before bed. It’s like the “fake scenarios” social media users post about – but the trick is to think of a scenario that’s not too interesting. Decide before you go to bed what you’ll focus on as you lie there waiting for sleep to come. Pick an engaging cognitive task with enough scope and breadth to maintain your interest and attention – without causing emotional or physical arousal. So, nothing too scary, thrilling or stressful. For example, if you like interior decorating, you might imagine redesigning a room in your house. If you’re a football fan, you might mentally replay a passage of play or imagine a game plan. A music fan might mentally recite lyrics from their favourite album. A knitter might imagine knitting a blanket. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s suited to you and your interests. The task needs to feel pleasant, without being overstimulating. Cognitive refocusing is not a silver bullet, but it can help. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2109031">study</a> of people with insomnia found those who tried cognitive refocusing had significant improvements in insomnia symptoms compared to a control group. <h2>How ancient wisdom can help us sleep</h2> Another age-old technique is mindfulness meditation. Meditation practice can increase our self-awareness and make us more aware of our thoughts. This can be useful for helping with rumination; often when we try to block or stop thoughts, it can make matters worse. Mindfulness training can help us recognise when we’re getting into a rumination spiral and allow us to sit back, almost like a passive observer. Try just watching the thoughts, without judgement. You might even like to say “hello” to your thoughts and just let them come and go. Allow them to be there and see them for what they are: just thoughts, nothing more. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01714-5">Research from our group</a> has shown mindfulness-based therapies can help people with insomnia. It may also help people with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-022-01370-z">psychiatric conditions</a> such as bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia get more sleep. <h2>What can help ease your pre-sleep thoughts?</h2> Good sleep starts the moment you wake up. To give yourself your best shot at a good night’s sleep, start by getting up at the same time each day and getting some morning light exposure (regardless of how much sleep you had the night before). Have a consistent bedtime, reduce technology use in the evening, and do regular exercise during the day. If your mind is busy at bedtime, try cognitive refocusing. Pick a “fake scenario” that will hold your attention but not be too scary or exciting. Rehearse this scenario in your mind at bedtime and enjoy the experience. You might also like to try: <ul> <li> keeping a consistent bedtime routine, so your brain can wind down </li> <li> writing down worries earlier in the day (so you don’t think about them at bedtime) </li> <li> adopting a more self-compassionate mindset (don’t beat yourself up at bedtime over your imagined shortcomings!).<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207406/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> </li> </ul> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melinda-jackson-169319">Melinda Jackson</a>, Associate Professor at Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hailey-meaklim-151642">Hailey Meaklim</a>, Sleep Psychologist and Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-people-think-about-when-they-go-to-sleep-207406">original article</a>.

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Better sleep is a protective factor against dementia

Could not getting enough sleep increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

Asking ChatGPT a health-related question? Better keep it simple

How to fall asleep without sleeping pills: 7 natural sleep aids that actually work

Here’s why having chocolate can make you feel great or a bit sick – plus 4 tips for better eating

Eating leafy greens could be better for oral health than using mouthwash

15 hacks that make running errands so much better

Christmas drinks anyone? Why alcohol before bedtime leaves you awake at 3am, desperate for sleep

"Do better": Baggage handlers captured recklessly throwing wheelchairs

Homeowners often feel better about life than renters, but not always – whether you are mortgaged matters

The path to better hearing, today

How can I get some sleep? Which treatments actually work?

How dangerous is insomnia? How fear of what it’s doing to your body can wreck your sleep

What’s insomnia like for most people who can’t sleep? You’d never know from the movies

6 common factors that are impacting your sleep

9 tricky ways to clean your house while you sleep

Handkerchief or tissue? Which one’s better for our health and the planet?

Are fish oil supplements as healthy as we think? And is eating fish better?

Do blue-light glasses really work? Can they reduce eye strain or help me sleep?

What do people think about when they go to sleep?

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

Better sleep is a protective factor against dementia

Could not getting enough sleep increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

Asking ChatGPT a health-related question? Better keep it simple

How to fall asleep without sleeping pills: 7 natural sleep aids that actually work

Here’s why having chocolate can make you feel great or a bit sick – plus 4 tips for better eating

Eating leafy greens could be better for oral health than using mouthwash

15 hacks that make running errands so much better

Christmas drinks anyone? Why alcohol before bedtime leaves you awake at 3am, desperate for sleep

"Do better": Baggage handlers captured recklessly throwing wheelchairs

Homeowners often feel better about life than renters, but not always – whether you are mortgaged matters

The path to better hearing, today

How can I get some sleep? Which treatments actually work?

How dangerous is insomnia? How fear of what it’s doing to your body can wreck your sleep

What’s insomnia like for most people who can’t sleep? You’d never know from the movies

6 common factors that are impacting your sleep

9 tricky ways to clean your house while you sleep

Handkerchief or tissue? Which one’s better for our health and the planet?

Are fish oil supplements as healthy as we think? And is eating fish better?

Do blue-light glasses really work? Can they reduce eye strain or help me sleep?

What do people think about when they go to sleep?

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