The resources below - provided by the National Sleep Foundation - will also help you learn more about sleep.
Think you really know sleep? Use this popular American resource to find out just how much you know.
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Did you know a sleep diary is an effective way to track and monitor your child's sleep habits?
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Sleep and Travel
Road travel and drowsiness.
Some call driver fatigue a "silent killer" because drowsy-driving and fall-asleep
crashes are underreported, state reporting practices are inconsistent and self-reporting
is unreliable. Most researchers and traffic safety officials believe the statistics
of drowsy driving are significantly higher than reported because of these reasons.
Before hitting the highway, especially for a long trip, you should:
• Get a good night's sleep. While this varies from individual to individual, sleep experts recommend between 7-9 hours of sleep per night for adults and 8 1/2-9 1/2 for teens.
• Plan to drive long trips with a companion. Passengers can help look for early warning signs of fatigue or switch drivers when needed. Passengers should stay awake to talk to the driver.
• Schedule regular stops, every 160kms or 2 hours.
• Avoid alcohol and medications (over-the-counter and prescribed) that may impair performance. Alcohol interacts with fatigue, increasing its effects.
• Consult a physician or a local sleep disorder center for diagnosis and treatment before your trip if you suffer frequent daytime sleepiness, often have difficulty sleeping at night and/or snore loudly every night.
Air travel and jet lag.
Anyone who has ever flown is likely to have experienced some degree of time zone
change disorder, commonly known as jet lag. This occurs when the body's biological
clock is out of sync with local time. The result is that we feel excessively sleepy
during the day or wide awake at night.
People may experience jet lag in varying degrees. In general, the severity of jet lag symptoms is directly related to the number of time zones crossed by a flight. Symptoms can include daytime sleepiness, nighttime alertness (insomnia), loss of appetite and other gastrointestinal dysfunctions, mood disturbances and difficulty concentrating or focusing.
The following are additional steps you can take to minimize jet lag:
• Shift your sleep times before you travel. In the few days before traveling west, go to bed and wake up 1 hour later each day. In the few days before traveling east, go to bed and wake up 1 hour earlier each day.
• Regulate your light exposure before you travel. In the few days before traveling west, seek evening light and avoid morning light. In the few days before traveling east, seek morning light and avoid evening light.
• Regulate your light exposure in your new time zone. If you traveled west, on arrival, seek morning light and avoid afternoon light. If you traveled east, on arrival seek evening light and avoid morning light.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine for at least 3-6 hours before bedtime.
• Avoid heavy exercise close to bedtime.
• Bring earplugs and blindfolds to reduce noise and light while sleeping.
