Dr Bollmann, Skin Care Specialist, Anti-Aging Expert
While I was never in the army, I did recognize the maxim, "sleep when you can", because I specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology. In my residency, we were "on call" in the hospital, meaning never leaving the facility, from Tuesday morning at 8 AM until Saturday at noon (with the exception of Wednesday night) - and that was on our weekend off! So every time I wasn't busy (not often), I went to my room to sleep.
In those days, the hospital paged doctors over the loud speaker. And the busiest doctor - the OB resident. I went from "this is great" to "Are you kidding me?" very quickly.
My point - sleep is important. If you are not getting enough, we know now that it not only affects performance and your feeling of well-being, but it affects health.
Previous studies suggest that sleep disorders closely correlate to the presence of cardiovascular diseases – responsible for nearly 50% of total global mortality. Researchers from the Multinational Monitoring of trends and determinants in Cardiovascular disease (“MONICA” study) studied 657 Russian men, ages 25 to 64 years, who did not have heart attack, stroke, or diabetes. The team assessed sleep quality, and tracked cases of heart attack and stroke over the next 14 years. During the study period, nearly two-thirds (63%) of participants who had a heart attack also had a sleeping disorder. Men with a sleeping disorder had a risk of myocardial infarction that was 2 to 2.6 times higher and a stroke risk that was 1.5 to 4 times higher than those without a sleeping disorder between 5 and 14 years of follow up. The lead investigator comments that: “Sleep disorders are very closely related to the presence of cardiovascular diseases. However, until now there has not been a population based cohort study examining the impact of sleep disorders on the development of a heart attack or stroke."
What I do. Take Melatonin 3 mg every night at bedtime, nap frequently, go to bed at the same time each night, and relax by reading or meditating before bed. And, of course, try to make your life stress-free, not sweat the small stuff, and realize it's all small stuff.
