Rest Assured: Smart Sleep Strategies for Every Season
Even with all the ‘beat the heat’ strategies presented in our July newsletter, sweltering summer days at times have us feeling like we are operating on empty. With the sun zapping our energy, we cannot wait for a good night’s sleep. Here are a few tips to help you and your loved one catch some quality z’s all year long:
1) Optimize the environment by minimizing circadian rhythm disruptions.
2) Establish routines to ease daily life and prepare for the future.
- By minimizing the time spent on planning, the brain can focus on what truly matters, while ensuring that sleep is a priority rather than an afterthought.
- Plan to lean on these routines. Procedural memory often lasts longer than declarative memory for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
- Write down these routines for contingency planning purposes. If for some reason, the primary care partner is unavailable, having a written record makes it easy for someone else to step in.
3) Align your habits with your circadian rhythm.
- Reduce or eliminate naps. For individuals who struggle to initiate activity on their own, consider an adult day center or other formal programming.
- Eat dinner earlier. Later mealtimes are associated with lower sleep quality.
- Limit phone use before bed. Blue light suppresses melatonin production.
- Exercise to prolong deep sleep. The release of endorphins and rise in body temperature, can impact sleep. If exercise is awakening avoid scheduling right before bed.
- Replace caffeinated drinks with herbal or decaf drinks, especially later in the day.
4) If you have concerns about your sleep* or your loved one’s sleep**, speak to your healthcare provider. Individuals with sleep disorders have an increased dementia risk. Sleep disorders are common amongst people living with dementia
After a sweaty day, a cold shower can feel like the perfect way to cool down and rinse off stress. For the brain, sleep is that shower, a time to actively cleans out toxins that have accumulated during the day and consolidate the day’s learning. Just as the water washes off the toxins of the day, sleep sweeps the mind clean. And for your benefit and for the sake of the people you interact with daily, honor both forms of hygiene year-round.
For more information about dementia and sleep click here.
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