A sleep specialist offers tips on how to overcome common summer sleep challenges and get a good night’s rest.

Summary: As summer approaches, sleep can be disrupted by longer daylight hours, higher temperatures, and routine changes. Sleep is vital for health, with deprivation leading to issues like mood swings, concentration difficulties, and long-term health problems such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. Dr. Andrew Valenzuela from Banner Health stresses the importance of sufficient sleep and offers tips to improve sleep quality: maintain a consistent schedule, create a cool environment, use the bed only for sleep, and limit screen exposure before bedtime.

Key Takeaways: 

  • Increased daylight, higher temperatures, and routine changes during summer can lead to reduced sleep.
  • Chronic lack of sleep can cause mood swings, concentration issues, and serious long-term health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and mental health disorders.
  • Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, create a cool and comfortable sleeping environment, use the bed only for sleep, and limit screen exposure before bedtime.

As the summer season approaches, many may find themselves experiencing difficulty getting a good night’s sleep. Research has shown that people tend to sleep less during the summer months, which can be attributed to various factors such as increased daylight hours, higher temperatures, and changes in daily routines.

Sleep plays a crucial role in our overall health and well-being. When we do not get at least seven hours of quality sleep regularly, it can have serious consequences on our physical and mental health.

The effects of sleep deprivation can manifest in various ways, including daytime sleepiness, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, and slower thinking. In the long term, persistent lack of sleep can lead to, or exacerbate, serious health issues such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes, obesity, immunodeficiency, pain, and mental health disorders. 

Prioritizing Sleep

It is important to prioritize getting enough sleep each night to ensure optimal functioning of our body’s systems. By making sleep a priority and establishing healthy sleep habits, we can reduce the risks associated with sleep deprivation and improve our overall health and well-being.

Andrew Valenzuela, MD, a sleep specialist from Banner Health, emphasizes the importance of getting enough hours of sleep to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “Sleep is essential for overall health and well-being. Chronic sleep deprivation can be the cause or worsen existing health issues, including obesity, heart disease, and cognitive impairment,” says Valenzuela in a release.

To combat sleep disturbances during the summer months, Valenzuela provides the following recommendations: 

  • Maintain a consistent sleep schedule.
  • Create a cool and comfortable sleeping environment.
  • Only use your bed for sleeping, not for other activities including electronics, as this can interfere with healthy bedtime associations.
  • Limit exposure to screens before bedtime, the blue light emitted by screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

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