Wake-Up Call
Sleep your way to better physical and mental health.

By Theodore Fischer
June/July 2007

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Too many of us get too little sleep, according to an AARP Segunda Juventud sleep study. Sleep experts recommend seven to eight hours for most adults, regardless of age, but the AARP study found that more than four in 10 older Hispanics sleep six or fewer hours each night.

That’s bad for health—physical and mental. The National Sleep Foundation reports that sleep deprivation can result in reduced energy, difficulty concentrating, more intense pain, and greater risk of accidents, particularly fall-asleep automobile crashes. People who don’t sleep enough are also more susceptible to diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and heart disease, as well as depression and other psychiatric problems.

So what’s keeping us awake? AARP’s poll, which looked at Hispanics age 40 and older, found that excessive stress, worry, or depression top the list (23 percent), followed by work or other activities (19 percent) and health problems (16 percent).

Dr. Francisco Perez-Guerra, professor of medicine at Texas A&M University and director of the Scott & White Sleep Disorders Center, says the survey indicates that Hispanics’ sleep patterns resemble those of the general population: “About half are sleeping well, and half are not.” Also in tune with the general population, significant numbers of Latinos suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by serious and potentially life-threatening interruptions in breathing during sleep. “And the heavier we are,” he says, “the higher the incidence.”

Experts say you’ll sleep better if you follow the tips in the box below every day, including weekends. If you still can’t sleep, get out of bed and sit elsewhere until you feel relaxed. 

“If you have persistent sleep problems, don’t watch television,” Perez-Guerra says. “Watching television and even reading in bed are poisonous to your brain.”