Sound Asleep: The Expert Guide to Sleeping Well

204 Pages·2013·1.76 MB·English

by  Chris Idzikowski PhD

SOUND
ASLEEP
THE EXPERT GUIDE
TO SLEEPING WELL
CHRIS IDZIKOWSKI
For Hilary
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Dr Chris Idzikowski, BSc, PhD, FBPsS, is Director of the Sleep Assessment and
Advisory Service and the Edinburgh Sleep Centre. A leading expert on sleep and
its disorders, he has served as Chairman of the British Sleep Society and has
been a long-term council member of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Sleep
Medicine Section. Dr Idzikowski has also sat on the boards of the European
Sleep Research Society and the US Sleep Medicine Foundation. He is the author
of five books, including Learn to Sleep Well (Watkins).
FOREWORD
I’ve often been asked why I became interested in sleep. After all, for most
people sleep is something they barely think about – it comes as a surprise that
anyone should devote their working life to understanding it. The short answer is
that I don’t really remember. I certainly didn’t wake up one day and have an
extraordinary interest in why I had slept the previous eight, nine, ten hours. I do
know, though, that my Latin teacher, my wife, and my late friend and mentor
Emeritus Professor Ian Oswald all had something to do with it. Their teaching
methods, frank criticism of my work and fascinating insights into the human
brain have all inspired me.
Looking after your sleep – and doing it in a way that isn’t harmful (by not
using sleeping pills or alcohol, for example) is fundamental to your well-being.
This book brings together the essence of everything I’ve learned about sleep in a
way that I hope is practical and accessible. My aim has been to give you not only
information about the nature of sleep, but also guidance on actions you can take
at home to improve your sleep quality. I haven’t shied away from the importance
of conventional medicine in the treatment of sleep disorders (I’m a scientist,
after all), but I hope you’ll see that there are lots of ways in which you can enjoy
better-quality sleep through simple changes to your lifestyle and by performing
simple tasks that promote sleep.
It’s important that you work through the book from the beginning. In Chapters
1 and 2, I’ve offered an understanding of what sleep is and what it does (as far as
we know). Information and simple measures will help you to make your own
assessments of how well you sleep at the moment and how sleepy you are during
the day. By going back to these early assessments when you’ve read later parts
of the book, you can gain a good measure of your progress as you start to
implement my techniques and tips for sleep improvement.
Arguably, the critical chapter in the book is Chapter 3 – the chapter on sleep
hygiene. A safe building is constructed on deep and solid foundations. Sleep
hygiene is the foundation of refreshing sleep. You cannot improve your sleep –
at any level – without making good sleep hygiene your priority.
In Chapters 4 and 5, I’ve looked at some of the specific challenges that we
face for our sleep quality at particular times or stages in our lives, as well as in
particular circumstances.
If you think you have a sleep disorder, Chapter 6 aims to give practical advice
on treatment – I’ve covered major disorders, as well as some of the more
unusual ones. If you have an insomnia, I hope to enable you to make informed
choices about your treatment, both at home and with the help of a sleep centre or
a doctor.
Finally, in Chapter 7, I’ve provided a summary of conventional and
complementary therapies that are often used to help people overcome sleep
problems. Taking a scientific view of what’s available, I hope I’ve offered robust
information and advice so that you can choose remedies and therapies that will
have actual beneficial effects on your sleep improvement, if you need them.
Overall, I hope this book enables you to better understand the unique nature of
your sleep so that you can put in place strategies that work for you. Your
physical, emotional and mental well-being rely upon sleeping soundly. I wish
you a peaceful night, every night.
Chris Idzikowski, January 2013
CONTENTS
Author’s acknowledgments
Foreword
Chapter 1: Sleep – an introduction
What is sleep? • What is tiredness? • What is dreaming? • How much sleep do
you need? • You and your sleepiness
Chapter 2: The science of sleep
Scientists of sleep • Rhythms of the day and night • The brainwave revolution •
Cycles and stages of sleep • The science of dreaming • The genetics of sleep • A
memory for sleep • Your body during sleep
Chapter 3: Sleep hygiene – the deep sleep cleanse
The sleep hygiene review • Your sleeping space • Temperature control • Into the
darkness • Noise and sleep • Making your bed • Rituals for sleep • The lifestyle
factor
Chapter 4: Sleep, ageing and gender
Sleeping babies, rested children • Teens to twenties • Sleep and older age •
Sleeping beauty, sleeping lion
Chapter 5: Good sleep guides for workers, parents, dreamers and
more
A worker’s guide to good sleep • A shift worker’s guide to good sleep • A
driver’s guide to good sleep • A flyer’s guide to good sleep • An athlete’s guide
to good sleep • A performer’s guide to good sleep • A student’s guide to good
sleep • A parents’ guide to good sleep • A dreamer’s guide to good sleep • A
problem-solver’s guide to good sleep
Chapter 6: Sleep disorders – step by step
Sleep disorders classified • Insomnia: an overview • Adjustment insomnia •
Psychophysiological insomnia • Other forms of insomnia • Narcolepsy •
Parasomnias • Circadian rhythm sleep disorders • Sleep-related breathing
disorders • Restless leg syndrome • Isolated symptoms, normal variants and
unresolved issues • Nightmares • Mental disorder insomnia
Chapter 7: Pills, potions and therapies
Conventional medicine • Sleep centres • Complementary medicine • Gadgets,
gizmos and the World Wide Web
Conclusion
Resources
AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to acknowledge simply everyone I’ve worked with – friends, colleagues,
staff, collaborators, students and so on have all contributed to my thinking – but
especially my long-suffering editor Judy Barratt and publisher Bob Saxton.