World Sleep Day 2019

Today is World Sleep Day (WSD) with the slogan “Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging”. This year the WSD draws attention to the fundamental connection of life quality and healthy sleep. Consequently, when sleep fails, health declines, and quality of life decreases. Last year’s WSD campaign organized more than 140 sleep awareness activities with around 55 countries participating¹.

Did you know that people with short sleep duration tend to weight significantly more than people with a good night of sleep?². Additionally, studies have shown that good sleep enhances memory performance of children and adults^3-5. A good night`s sleep means 7-8 hours of sleeping per night, which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke⁶. Further, lacking sleep connects to depression: About 90% of patients with depression complain about sleep quality⁷.

• turn off your gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets
• eat light and avoid caffeine in the evening
• work out, regular exercise during daytime can make for a great night's sleep
• have defined bed times

So sleep matters; you simply can’t achieve optimal health without a good night’s sleep!

(1) http://worldsleepday.org/ (checked: 12.03.2019 11am)

(2) Patel et al. (2012) Obesity (Silver Spring).

(3)Walker et al. (2002) Brain Res Cogn Brain Res.

(4) Könen et al. (2015) J Child Psychol Psychiatry.

(5) Mednick et al. (2009) Vision Res.

(6) Cappuccio et al. (2011) Eur Heart J.

(7) Tsuno et al. (2005) J Clin Psychiatry.