If you have a problem sleeping, you’re not alone. One out of every four people will have a sleep disorder at some point in their lives, according to WESTMED sleep specialist and pulmonologist Dr. Bruno DiCosmo. He revealed some eye-opening facts about sleep and helpful tips at WESTMED’s Rye facility May 22.
By Georgetta L. Morque
If you have a problem sleeping, you’re not alone. One out of every four people will have a sleep disorder at some point in their lives, according to WESTMED sleep specialist and pulmonologist Dr. Bruno DiCosmo. He revealed some eye-opening facts about sleep and helpful tips at WESTMED’s Rye facility May 22.
Women have sleep disorders more often than men because of biological changes that are hormonal-related, explained Dr. DiCosmo, but also because the responsibilities they face as mothers and wives can be stressful. Age is another factor. Older people experience less deep sleep than younger ones.
The most common type of sleep disorder is insomnia of which there are three types: transient, which can occur just a few nights and brought on by stress or an exciting event; short term, which can occur for two to three weeks; and chronic, which means every night one experiences difficulty sleeping. Chronic insomnia affects 35 million Americans. “Yet, it’s not insomnia unless it drags you down,” said Dr. DiCosmo, who follows the 30-30 rule: it takes 30 minutes to fall asleep or you are awake for 30 minutes in the night and this impacts you the next day. Women are most at risk for chronic insomnia and twice as likely as men to have it.
Medication is the easy answer to treat insomnia but not the best one, warned Dr. DiCosmo. He only recommends a short-term course of drugs for six to eight weeks. Any longer use can lead to dependency, abuse, rebounding insomnia, or developing a tolerance to the drug.
As an alternative to drugs, Dr. DiCosmo recommends four techniques. The first is sleep hygiene, which involves procedures and behaviors geared toward optimal sleep. These include avoiding caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol the last four to five hours of the day; exercising regularly but not during the last four hours of the day; keeping a dark, cool, and quiet bedroom; and establishing a regular bedtime schedule and similar wind-down each night.
Sleep hygiene alone will not cure insomnia, he explained. In conjunction is a technique called sleep restriction, a behavior therapy that involves limiting the time in bed initially with the goal of lengthening your sleep time. Calculate the average number of hours you actually sleep by keeping a sleep log and then limit the time in bed to those hours. And, at the same time, set a fixed wake- up time daily. Gradually, you can add 30 minutes to the amount of sleep time, which will eventually establish a longer and more consolidated sleep.
The third technique is stimulus control. Don’t go to bed until you feel sleepy and if you are awake for more than 20 minutes, get up and go to another room and do something restful, like read. The fourth technique involves relaxation therapy, which includes diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and relaxing imagery.
Dr. DiCosmo addressed other sleep disorders, such as periodic limb movement, restless leg syndrome, nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea, a serious problem which involves blocked breathing.
