Too little sleep may lead to asthma attacks in adults: Help is here

A good night’s sleep is crucial to good health. Sleep deprivation or irregular sleeping patterns can lead a host of serious health problems, like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, mental disorders, obesity. Now, a new research has revealed that too little sleep, and occasionally too much sleep, can negatively impact adults with asthma.

Previous studies have linked poor sleep quality to increased asthma symptoms in adolescents. This new study showed that adults with asthma are equally affected by too little or sometimes too much sleep.

For the study, the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in the US surveyed 1,389 adults who have asthma. Compared to normal sleepers, more numbers of short and long sleepers reported having an asthma attack in the past year and impaired health-related quality of life. Impaired quality of life was characterised by more days of poor physical and mental health, the researchers said.

While younger and non-White comprises more of short sleepers, long sleepers were mostly older, female and a smoker.

Compared to normal sleepers, short sleepers were more likely to experience asthma attack, dry cough, and an overnight hospitalisation during the past year. This group of participants also had significantly worse health-related quality of life and more frequent general healthcare use during the past year, when compared to normal sleepers.

The findings were published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

SIMPLE HACKS TO HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER

Experts say sleep requirements slightly vary from person to person. While healthy adults are recommended to get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to function at their best, children and teens need even more. Unfortunately, most people are sleep deprived today, due to work pressure, stress or sleep disorders. Whatever the cause is, we have a few secrets that will help you snooze.

Try Wearing A Pair Of Socks

Keeping your feet warm will help you sleep better. Minutes before going to bed, soak your feet in hot water and massage with oil. Then wear a pair of socks to keep your feet warm. As it is summertime, you can do away with the foot bath and just put on a pair of socks. Doing so will fall asleep the minute you get into bed.

Regular Exercise Will do the Trick Too

Just half an hour of exercise daily will help you fall asleep quickly at night. Choose any time of the day as per your convenience to do some form of exercise. Not only it will rejuvenate you but also tire you out, and thus make you sleep easily. Exercise stimulates the production of the feel-good hormone and helps reduce stress and anxiety – which are linked to poor sleep.

Say No To Alcohol At Night

If you want a good night’s sleep, avoid drinking before bed. Alcohol can make you sleepy but once its relaxing effect wears off, you’ll be more likely to wake up or toss in the later half of the night.

Use Soft Lights in the Bedroom

Too much lighting in the room won’t let you sleep even if you are sleepy. So, use soft lights in the bedroom and draw the curtains to prevent lights from outside. Wearing eye-mask may help too.

Avoid Use of Electronics Before Bed

Watching TV together after dinner is a part of the daily life in many households. But make sure you switch off your TV at least an hour before you hit the bed. Also, avoid use of smartphone before bedtime. Instead dim your bedroom lights and spend the time listening to some soft music. It will relax you and put you in deep sleep.