Author: Yi Xiaofeng
Since entering the 21st century, the rapid development of society has led to earth-shaking changes in the laws of contemporary people's lives. According to a new survey by the Chinese Sleep Research Society, about 300 million people in China have sleep disorders, more than 3/4 of them can only fall asleep after 11 pm, and nearly 1/3 of people can only fall asleep after 1 am. Especially from the beginning of 2020 to the present, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, many people work and study from home, while the overall sleep time has been delayed by 2 to 3 hours, and the search volume for sleep problems has increased by 43%, such as snoring, sleepwalking, insomnia, anxiety and other troubles, as if it has become part of the "night life" of modern people.
In an interview with reporters, Xu Jia, member of the Spiritual Psychology Science Popularization Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, chairman of the Heilongjiang Rehabilitation Medicine Sleep Disorder Rehabilitation Committee, and director of the Department of Sleep Medicine of Harbin First Specialist Hospital, conducted science popularization education from topics of concern to the people, such as the standard of good sleep, the concept of sleep disorders, the causes of common insomnia, and how to solve the problem of sleep disorders, aiming to let the public pay attention to sleep, understand sleep, learn to sleep, and improve immunity while obtaining good sleep. Live every day of your life with plenty of energy.
As an important physiological need, 1/3 of human life is spent in sleep. If people do not sleep, they will produce a series of physical symptoms and mental disorders. Director Xu Jia explained that the physiological significance of sleep is to promote the development and development of brain function, if the child's sleep is insufficient, it will bury major hidden dangers in the process of physical and mental growth; similarly, the sleep quality of office workers is not good, which naturally makes the work efficiency "slippery slope", and errors continue. Good sleep consolidates memories and ensures that the brain functions optimally, which is especially important for learning new knowledge, mastering new technologies, and maintaining creativity. To sum up in one sentence, sleep is the "gas station" of human body functions, which helps to increase the activity of immune factors in the body, avoid the premature occurrence of aging, and let the source of life burst with vitality and brilliance.
Epidemiological surveys have shown that about 15-35% of adults worldwide sleep "very poorly". Xu Jia introduced that adequate sleep, a balanced diet and appropriate exercise are the three major health standards recognized by the international community. As we all know, wakefulness and sleep are two aspects of maintaining the physiological functions of the body, learning and working must be in an awakened state, a clear mind to keep people efficient, provided that a reasonable sleep time must be guaranteed, so that the tired body can be repaired and "charged". In the 1960s, international scholars clearly put forward three evaluation criteria for good sleep, one is to fall asleep smoothly and fall asleep for 10-15 minutes; the second is that the whole sleep process is very peaceful and does not wake up in the middle; the third is to feel refreshed, comfortable and pleasant after waking up.
Director Xu explained that sleep disorders refer to various dysfunctions manifested during sleep-wake. Decreased sleep quality is the most common complaint and complaint from people. Among adults, up to about 15% of people with long-term sleep disorders. Among them, sleep disorders in the narrow sense include people's adaptation to the sleep environment and the continuity of sleep, such as excessive sensitivity to light, temperature, noise, and sudden changes to the sleeping environment, etc., which bring many nightmares, light sleep, easy to wake up, etc. For a long time, it is easy to form a psychological disorder of "fear of sleep". Sleep disorders in a broad sense include insomnia, excessive drowsiness, sleep breathing disorders and sleep behavior abnormalities caused by various causes, the latter such as sleep walking, sleep panic, restless legs syndrome, etc.
Dr. Xu Jia said that in actual life, there are mainly 4 kinds of people who "can't sleep at night", first of all, it is difficult to fall asleep, often go to bed early is not able to sleep, tossing and turning, sleeping and eating, often in the middle of the night is still tossing, until dawn to have sleepiness. The second is that the sleep time is short, sleep fast, wake up early, and then can no longer sleep. The third is to wake up when sleeping, as if sleeping is not sleeping, consciously sleeping unsteadily, not tired. Fourth, the morning is upside down, sleeping with a blindfold during the day, and becoming a "night owl" at night, and the spirit is like playing "chicken blood". In these cases, the common feeling of all people is that they can't sleep well, they don't sleep well, and they are more tired than if they don't sleep. During the day, they tend to fall into a state of drowsiness and dizziness, lose their temper at every turn, and their emotions and behaviors become out of control.
Clinically, the manifestations of sleep disorders are diverse and vary in severity. And what's the mystery behind the scenes? What are the bad psychological or behavioral habits that move the "cheese" of sleep? Director Xu Jia's experience is that sleep problems are more complex, sometimes independent, and sometimes a variety of reasons are mixed, like a mess. First of all, physiological or physical reasons, some people with pre-existing physical diseases, such as tumors, gout, trigeminal neuralgia to bring physical discomfort, naturally let normal sleep into trouble; second, from a sociological point of view, stress insomnia accounts for "half of the country", for example, fierce competition in the workplace, tension of interpersonal relationships, unsatisfactory living conditions, will make people "sleep restless"; the third is the psychiatric factors, up to 70-80% of patients with mental disorders are accompanied by insomnia, 50% of insomnia suffers from mental disorders. Fourth, drug triggers, such as certain antibiotics, antiviral drugs, anti-tuberculosis drugs, anticoagulants, lipid-lowering drugs, interferons, etc., will destroy the quality of sleep.
There is also age, gender and lifestyle, which are also important drivers of the challenge of sleep health. Xu Jia said that the first is the age factor, with the passage of time, most of the elderly growth hormone secretion decreased, melatonin secretion decreased, the speed of the biological clock advanced, disturbing the normal rhythm of the human body, resulting in sleep disorders, disorders and disorder. Followed by gender factors, statistics show that women's insomnia is about 1.41 times higher than that of men of the same age, which is because female estrogen is easily "rhythmic" by the menstrual cycle, coupled with inner sensitivity, low psychological endurance, and easier to "sleepless night". What is particularly serious is that young people known as the "firefly family", often due to heavy work or personal preferences and other reasons, artificially delay the time to fall asleep, some in the middle of the night three more are still playing games, playing poker or lingering in the network world, such people, long-term sleep "debt", often induce anxiety or depression, physical health will also be out of condition.
In fact, everyone's sleep time period is different. Whether it is the "more husband type" or the "early bed and late rise type", Director Xu Jia suggested that everyone should find their own biological clock and pay attention to the efficiency of sleep and rest. Traditional Chinese medicine theory holds that the two hours of midnight and noon (11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. during the day) are the times when the temperature difference varies the most every day, and this period of time requires proper rest. Here, for the management of the sleeping environment is very important, it is recommended not to place household appliances in the bedroom, you should avoid wearing watches, dentures and the habit of sleeping with your mobile phone next to the pillow, and it is best to hang a thick curtain in the bedroom to ensure the safety and undisturbed when sleeping. After going to bed, it is best not to play online games, listen to the radio, read the newspaper, and put an end to all activities that are not related to sleep.
Dr. Xu Jia stressed that even if people with insomnia are listless, they must get up on time in the morning, do not lie in bed, and it is not recommended to make up for sleep during the day. If you can't get out of the predicament of sleep disorders, you should see a neurologist or psychologist as soon as possible and seek the help of a specialist.
Director Xu also recommended the following methods to alleviate sleep disorders, you may wish to try it.
Hot water bathing: Chinese medicine believes that bathing before going to bed can relax the body, and office workers choose to take a hot bath to speed up sleep. In addition, the dripping of essential oils in the bath water also has a calming effect.
Foot massage: Choose the way to massage the soles of the feet before going to bed, which can also achieve the purpose of helping sleep. It is recommended to press the spring point in the center of the sole of the foot with your thumb, and usually move your toes more to promote the circulation of qi and blood and strengthen the brain.
Drinking sugar water: If you are restless or restless, you can drink a glass of sugar water or hot milk before going to bed, which can help soothe emotions and create dreams, but it is not recommended for diabetics.
Use of medicine pillow: whether the pillow is comfortable also determines the quality of sleep, if there is a sleep disorder, you can consider choosing a medicine pillow. Chinese medicine recommends soaking and drying the coarse tea leaves and chen tea, directly in the pillowcase, adding an appropriate amount of dried jasmine flowers, which can be pleasant and fall asleep.
Finally, in response to the hot issue of whether andymatic tablets should be eaten, Director Xu Jia explained: As a general term for benzodiazepines, and stability can play a role in anti-anxiety, anticonvulsant, sedative hypnosis and central muscle relaxation, but taking and without taking it as a sleeping pill, it is easy to cause dizziness, fatigue, walking instability and other symptoms, and the elderly are prone to fall. Long-term application will also produce drug resistance, have to increase the dosage of drugs, and even gradually develop Alzheimer's disease. From this point of view, relying on stabilization tablets to help sleep is obviously not a good choice.