This time of year most of us enjoy the extra hour of sleep as we get as we turn our clocks back, but it’s not nearly enough to make up for the massive amounts of sleep we are losing throughout the rest of the year.

“We are a sleep-deprived society, and we often pay for that lack of sleep in ways we may not realize,” said Dr. Aneesa Das, assistant director of the Sleep Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Depending on your age, it can affect everything from your complexion to your weight to your heart, and can lead to some very serious medical issues,” she said.

“For children, sleep deprivation can lead to behavior problems, trouble focusing and learning in school and it can affect their immune systems,” said Dr. Aneesa Das, a sleep medicine specialist at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. “Chronic tiredness makes it harder to cope and process what’s going on around you.”
When children enter the teen years, sleep becomes a bigger issue. Das says a teen’s circadian rhythm, or internal body clock, tells them to stay awake later and sleep later than children and adults do. She says only 15 percent of teenagers get the recommended sleep they need.

“Sleep is time the body uses to restore itself. Muscles and other tissues repair themselves, hormones that control growth, development and appetite are released. Energy is restored and memories are solidified, so we need to try to get regular sleep on a regular basis,” Das said.

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Source:The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

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As fall brings with it dark mornings, getting up is getting harder. My first inclination when my alarm goes off at 6.00am is to roll over and go back to sleep. But that little voice in my head starts reminding me gotta get up, gotta hit the gym. Argh! its hard, but this is something I have to do, something I need to do. The older I get, the harder it gets, but the benefits outweigh the struggle to resist, and go back to sleep.

A research study out of McMaster University has found that only 40 per cent of Canadians exercise to cope with stress.

The researchers analyzed data from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians 15 and older. Of 13 coping behaviours or strategies polled, exercise was ranked eighth, meaning people were more likely to cope with stress by problem-solving; looking on the bright side, trying to relax, talking to others, blaming oneself, ignoring stress or praying, rather than being active.

“We know stress levels are high among Canadians, and that exercise is effective at managing stress and improving health and well-being, so the fact exercise is number eight and that less than half of the population use it is worrisome,” said principal investigator John Cairney, a professor of family medicine, and psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences, at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

The study, published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, also found that younger, single, more educated and more active adults as well as women were more likely to use exercise for stress release. As well, the individuals who reported using exercise to combat stress were more likely to endorse other positive coping strategies and less likely to use alcohol or drugs for coping.

Encouraging exercise, especially in groups identified as being less likely to use exercise to cope with stress, could potentially reduce overall stress levels and improve general health and well-being, said Cairney.

“Exercise as a coping strategy for stress can be a ‘win-win’ situation because there are both mental and physical health benefits.”

ᔥMcMaster University