When sleep eludes you
COVID-SOMNIA: DOCTORS REPORT UPSURGE IN PATIENTS SINCE VIRUS
Melatonin supplements signal to brain the body should start winding down.
It’s understandable that you may be struggling to fall asleep these days. Our world has been turned upside down, so it is especially hard to unplug from the day and get the high-quality sleep your body needs.
“Almost every single patient I’m speaking with has insomnia,” said Dr Alon Y Avidan, a professor and vice-chair in the department of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Centre. “Especially now with Covid-19, we have an epidemic of insomnia. We call it Covid-somnia.”
An increase in anxiety in both children and adults is affecting our ability to fall asleep.
Additionally, our lifestyles have changed drastically as people observe sheltering in place guidelines. With more people staying indoors, it can mean they are not getting enough light exposure.
“Without light exposure in the morning,” Avidan said, people “lose the circadian cues that are so fundamentally important in setting up appropriate and normal sleep-wake time”.
One way of dealing with insomnia in a nonmedical way is working on improving your sleep hygiene, Avidan said. Sleep hygiene refers to creating an ideal environment that promotes conditions good for sleep.
These include:
Powering down electronics and avoiding the news two hours before bedtime;
Maintaining a regular sleep schedule;
Avoiding alcohol and caffeine at night; and
Trying to get as much natural sunlight during the day as possible to orient your internal clock.
If these options don’t work, or if you are ready for the next step, you may have considered trying melatonin supplements.
These pills are commonplace enough that you have most likely heard of them and seen them in your local pharmacy.
Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep timing. It is produced in the pea-size pineal gland, which is nestled in the middle of your brain and syncs melatonin production with the rising and setting of the sun. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the gland remains inactive during the day but switches on at about 9pm (when it’s generally dark) to flood the brain with melatonin for the next 12 hours.
Melatonin itself doesn’t make you fall asleep; it just tells your body that it’s time to fall asleep by lowering alertness and reducing your core body temperature. It works in tandem with the body’s circadian rhythms to let you know when you should rest and when you should be awake.
“Melatonin is the hormone of darkness and you need it to start falling asleep,” Avidan said. “The reverse also happens. If you expose yourself to too much light at night, you actually delay the production and release of melatonin.” This is why experts suggest you avoid computers and smartphones before bedtime.
You can buy synthetic melatonin supplements over the counter. They are generally considered safe and nonhabit-forming. Avidan says melatonin supplements can be effective for most people.
Melatonin supplements are useful when you have a circadian rhythm disorder such as jet lag or sleep pattern disruptions resulting from shift work. When used to treat these conditions, melatonin supplements signal to the brain that it is night-time and the body should start winding down.
The second use for melatonin supplements is when you have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.
Dr Bhanu Kolla, an associate professor in psychiatry and psychology and a consultant in sleep medicine at the Centre for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said that melatonin supplements reduce the time to fall asleep.
In one study, people who took melatonin supplements fell asleep seven minutes faster and increased overall sleep time by eight minutes. Researchers found that overall sleep quality was improved, too.
“If you have any major health conditions such as liver failure, renal failure or are pregnant,” said Kolla, “it is always best to consult your physician before taking melatonin supplements. – The New York Times Company
We have an epidemic of insomnia