Fending & Fighting for a Healthy Life

by Sara Vogt - August 30, 2019

In Movin’ Together we are continually presenting tools to aid us in fending our immune system and/or fighting a disease process. Of course, we encourage all of us to be proactive in taking those steps that aid us to live a healthy lifestyle. Each month we present a healthy tool for us to consider and hopefully begin to incorporate into our daily lives. One step at a time!

Our healthy tool on this broadcast is sleeping!

To discover new insights into helping us get the sleep we need we met with Physician Assistant Loreal Librinca. Loreal works at the sleep center in Williamsport at UPMC Susquehanna’s Regional Medical Center’s Divine Providence Campus. When Loreal was asked about the importance of sleep, she responded by saying, “Without sleep, your body is not able to restore or repair itself. We make cytokines when we sleep and that is a specific protein that targets infection and inflammation. So without adequate sleep, we are not able to produce and release those during the night. In this particular population, we see increased obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Although adequate sleep will not entirely prevent illness, it will help us maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

After the discussion of the importance of sleep, Loreal was asked about the meaning of the expression, good sleep hygiene.
She listed a few of the techniques or modifications that would be included to help us have a good night’s sleep which is as follows:
– Waking the same time every day
– No caffeine after 2 or 3 in the afternoon
– Limiting screen time an hour before bed
– Thirty minutes before bed taking a walk or reading a book
– Avoid tobacco and alcohol before bed
– Exercise during the day
– Dim your lights at night
– Limit technology in the bedroom

According to Loreal, our bedrooms should be a place of rest and restoration. She said, “the environment itself should be cool, quiet and dark.”

The hours of sleep that are recommended by the National Sleep Foundation are as follows:
Newborns (0-3 months): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours each day (previously it was 12-18)
Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12-15 hours (previously it was 14-15)
Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened by one hour to 11-14 hours (previously it was 12-14)
Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously it was 11-13)
School-age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours (previously it was 10-11)
Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5)
Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours
Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category

If you would like to be proactive in establishing good sleep hygiene techniques or you may experiencing a more serious sleep disorder and need the assistance of a health care professional like Loreal, please visit this website listed here for more information.