CAN’T GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP? FIND OUT WHY

IF YOU FIND IT HARD TO DRIFT AWAY ON SUMMER NIGHTS, DON’T DESPAIR. PATSY WESTCOTT FINDS SOME COOL SOLUTIONS TO HOT WEATHER INSOMNIA

WE TEND TO SPEND MORE TIME OUTDOORS AND BE EXTRA ACTIVE IN THE SUMMER, BOTH OF WHICH SHOULD ENCOURAGE A SOUND NIGHT’S SLEEP, YET FOR SO MANY OF US THAT’S NOT THE CASE. WHY? ACCORDING TO EXPERTS IT’S ALL ABOUT OUR BODY’S INTERNAL TEMPERATURE GAUGE AND THE VITAL ROLE IT PLAYS IN TRIGGERING SLEEP, WHICH

CAN BE SENT AWRY BY EVEN A MODEST AMOUNT OF SUN, NEVER MIND SWELTERING NIGHTS IF YOU’RE HOLIDAYING ABROAD. INDEPENDENT SLEEP EXPERT, DR NEIL STANLEY EXPLAINS: “THE UNDERLYING REASON HOT WEATHER DISTURBS SLEEP IS THE NARROWER ‘TEMPERATURE GRADIENT’ – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR BODY’S CORE TEMPERATURE

AND OUR SURROUNDINGS.

“THE TEMPERATURE OF OUR INTERNAL ORGANS – OR CORE BODY TEMPERATURE – NEEDS TO FALL, BY AROUND HALF A DEGREE CENTIGRADE, FOR SLEEP TO HAPPEN. THIS DROP BEGINS AS WE GO TO SLEEP, REACHING ITS LOWEST POINT IN THE SMALL HOURS AROUND 2-4AM. IT DOESN’T SOUND A VERY BIG DROP, BUT THE WARMER THE BEDROOM, THE NARROWER

THE TEMPERATURE GRADIENT, AND THE MORE DIFFICULTY THE BODY HAS IN LOSING ENOUGH HEAT TO USHER IN SLEEP.”

WOMEN AGED 45+CAN BE PARTICULARLY AFFECTED BECAUSE OF THE DODGY INTERNAL THERMOSTAT THAT INVARIABLY ACCOMPANIES LOSS OF OESTROGEN AT PERIMENOPAUSE AND MENOPAUSE. RESEARCH HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT IRRESPECTIVE OF DWINDLING OESTROGEN, FROM AROUND AGE 55,

“SLOW WAVE” RESTORATIVE SLEEP

BECOMES HARDER TO COME BY, AND

YOU HAVE A PERFECT RECIPE FOR A NIGHT SPENT TOSSING AND TURNING.