What are the five elements of sleep health

The five elements of sleep health that are currently generally recognized in the field of domestic sleep medicine mainly include sleep duration, circadian rhythm compliance, proportion of deep sleep, frequency of sleep interruptions, and daytime wakefulness.

In the past two months, I had a visitor who worked as an Internet operator. He slept for 8 hours every day, but he still felt dizzy in the afternoon. He couldn’t even get excited to watch short videos. After wearing a home sleep monitor for a week, I discovered that the old residential complex he rented faced the street and half of the The sound of a garbage truck at night always woke him up from his sleep. He woke up almost 10 times a night, and the proportion of deep sleep only reached 10%. It was obvious that he had stepped on the pitfalls of sleep continuity and depth. Later, he changed to soundproof windows and wore earplugs, and his overall state returned within two weeks.

To be honest, many people's understanding of sleep health is still based on "you must sleep for 8 hours". In fact, the duration is a floating indicator, and the needs of different age groups are far different. School-age children need to sleep for 10 hours to grow and develop. Even if the elderly over 65 years old only sleep 5-6 hours a day, as long as they are comfortable, it is completely normal. There is still controversy in the academic circles. Some people who carry the short-sleep gene only need to sleep 3-4 hours a day to stay energetic throughout the day. Therefore, there is really no need to stick to the 8-hour standard, but it is easy to develop sleep anxiety.

In addition to how long you sleep, when you sleep is also crucial. There is also a topic that everyone has been arguing about for a long time: "Does staying up until early in the morning and sleeping for 8 hours count as staying up late?" In fact, it depends on whether you maintain a stable rhythm. If you go to bed at 2 a.m. and start at 10 a.m. all year round, with a fixed schedule and no frequent changes, the rhythm is considered stable, and the damage will be much less than if you go to bed at 10 a.m. today and go to bed at 3 a.m. tomorrow. However, some studies have suggested that the body's melatonin and cortisol secretion itself is linked to the rhythm of natural light. Long-term reversal of day and night, even if the schedule is fixed, may have an impact on sugar metabolism and immunity. Therefore, if it is not necessary to work the night shift, it is safer to follow the rhythm of the sun as much as possible.

If you sleep for enough time and at the right rhythm, it also depends on whether you sleep deeply enough. Deep sleep is what we often call the "sleep deep" stage. During this stage, the body will repair damage and organize memories. Normally, it accounts for 15%-25% of the total sleep time. If you are still sore and tired when you wake up after 10 hours of sleep, it is most likely that deep sleep is not enough. It is like eating a big bowl of rice, which is full of non-nutritious sugar water. You are full but have not absorbed anything useful.

In addition to sleeping deeply, you must also sleep soundly. If you wake up all night, even if you wake up for only a few dozen seconds each time and you have no memory, it will tear the complete sleep structure into pieces. It is like watching a high-scoring movie and being interrupted by pop-ups at every turn. Even if the total time is enough, it is difficult to get the complete plot, and it will naturally not be comfortable when you wake up. Many elderly people who wake up frequently at night and people who are easy to sleep and are awakened mostly fall into this problem.

The first few items are all hard indicators that can be measured by instruments. The last item, daytime wakefulness, is actually the most practical. If you feel refreshed after waking up, you don’t have to rely on more than two cups of coffee during the day to stay alive, and you won’t feel sleepy just sitting. Even if the sleep time of the previous day is half an hour or an hour less than usual, it is still considered a qualified sleep. There is no need to scare yourself by looking at the indicators. When I provide sleep guidance to clients, I often say that these five elements are interrelated, so there is no need to stick to any one. Instead of being anxious about monitoring data, it is more important to pay more attention to your own physical feelings.