Medical News
Winter makes us sleep longer
Scientists identify factors that may alter sleep behaviours
Acombination of cold weather and reduced daylight are prompting us to sleep more during the winter season .
Researchers from the St Hedwig Hospital and Berlin Institute of Health in Germany recently conducted a retrospective study on the changes in sleep patterns according to season . Study participants presented with longer sleeping time and increased rapid eye movement ( REM ) during winter . REM is one of the phases of sleep where eyes move in all directions before progressing to deep sleep and is closely linked to the circadian clock that characterises a person ’ s wake-sleep pattern for 24 hours . Specifically , the participants slept one hour longer , with REM sleep lasting 30 minutes longer in winter compared to summer . REM sleep comprises enhanced brain activity , and dreaming occurs . Normal sleep begins with three stages of non-REM sleep , followed by a brief period of REM sleep .
Recently published in the journal Frontiers of Neuroscience , the study also suggested that prolonged REM sleep in winter and reduced deep sleep in autumn persist in urban settings with low natural light exposure and high light pollution . Moreover , daylight savings practice , which involves setting the clock one hour forward during the beginning of summer and reverting in the fall , is also a factor in the seasonal changes in sleep patterns . The researchers also suggest that improvements to winter sleep behaviour can be made by going to bed earlier .
The study model involved 188 hospital patients , aged between 17 and 81 years old , who were subjected to a sleep study called polysomnography used to diagnose sleep disorders . The patients were required to sleep in special laboratories with no alarm clocks . With patients encouraged to sleep at a time of their preference and with their sleep sessions during the “ Although weekends and holidays as a baseline , researchers the sleep need does determined their quality , type , and duration of sleep . not change Patients with sleeping patterns that skipped the during winter , first REM phase and who took sleep-disrupting environmental medications , such as antidepressants , were excluded changes such from the study . as short days ,
Dr Carleara Weiss , an expert in behavioural early sunset , sleep medicine , said that healthy adults tend to and cold sleep between 1.75 to 2.5 hours more during winter . temperatures “ Although the sleep need does not change during tend to make people more winter , environmental changes such as short days , tired and early sunset , and cold temperatures tend to make sleepy ,” people more tired and sleepy ,” she remarked on her blog . The circadian rhythm is synchronised with the light in the environment , so environmental changes during winter can disrupt this timing .
Reduced exposure to sunlight also leads to low vitamin D production in our skin . According to an article in the Nutrients journal , vitamin D deficiency is linked to fatigue and daytime sleepiness . The vitamin controls the production of melatonin , a hormone that helps control sleep and circadian rhythms , so low levels can cause melatonin to drop , potentially causing sleep problems .
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