With the heat hitting the UK this week, many will have been desperately looking for any way to cool off while trying to sleep.
The sticky humidity of the British heat is not ideal for a comfortable night’s sleep, especially if, like most, you don’t have air conditioning or a powerful enough fan.
In such cases, many of them will look to opt for easier remedies, such as the birthday suit method: ditching their pajamas in the hope of a cooler night’s sleep.
Talking with Women’s health, Sleep expert Sophie Bostock warned that while it’s a tempting solution, sleeping naked can prevent people from getting the best quality of sleep possible during a heatwave, and should be avoided.
Sophie pointed to several studies showing that people are getting fewer hours of restful sleep on mild nights, very similar to what the UK has just experienced.
Stock image. Sleep expert Sophie Bostock warned that while it is a tempting solution, sleeping naked can prevent people from getting the best quality of sleep possible and should be avoided.
We lose 17 hours of sleep a month during the summer according to a recent survey of 2,017 Britons.
Although more than a third of us are unaffected by rising temperatures, more than half of British adults sleep six hours or less in summer, compared with just 39 per cent in winter.
The research even revealed that a quarter of respondents had to take days off work because they felt too tired to go to work. With that in mind, The Sleep Charity’s deputy chief executive, Lisa Artis, revealed ten top tips to combat the hottest nights.
The reason sleep is so affected by weather is because light, stress, and temperatures are major players in the circadian rhythm, the natural body clock that determines when we should be awake or asleep.
This is mainly because the body temperature needs to reach a reduced temperature before resting as melatonin levels, which promote sleep, increase.
A previous one study It was agreed that sleep duration tends to decrease when body temperature is still high.
That’s because the body has a harder time regulating its temperature, so people who sleep bundled up are more likely to wake up during the night, said Harvard Medical School medicine professor Rebecca Robbins. Fortune.
As most of us know, a disturbed night’s sleep is never a good night’s sleep and tends to leave people feeling groggy and sleep-deprived the next morning, making it unlikely that heat will ensure a restful night’s sleep.
We lose 17 hours of sleep a month during the summer according to a recent survey of 2,017 Britons
Therefore, a drop in temperature is necessary in order to be able to sleep, a task not so easy in the middle of a heatwave in the United Kingdom.
Despite some recommending people avoid wearing pyjamas on hot nights to prevent the inevitable night-time overheating, sleep expert Sophie said this could end up causing more damage in the long run, even if it’s not the most comfortable.
She told Women’s Health: “This isn’t very helpful as what you can actually find is that if it builds up on the body and isn’t removed by a moisture-absorbing surface, such as clothing, then it doesn’t help to cool you down.”
Instead, she suggested opting for lightweight pajamas that can help keep sweat stains at bay.
“Therefore, wearing cotton pajamas or anything that absorbs sweat from the body can be better than being completely naked,” he recommended.
The NHS recommends Britons get seven to nine hours of sleep a night, meaning we lose an average of more than two nights of sleep over the summer.
Sophie’s advice comes after a British tourist was advised to avoid sleeping with the air conditioning on, after being hospitalised with severe tonsillitis.
Liana Foster, from north London, travelled to Antalya in Turkey on a family holiday earlier this month.
But just two days later, the 24-year-old says she woke up “groggy” and noticed white spots on her tonsils.
After being taken to hospital, doctors diagnosed her with a “very severe case” of tonsillitis, which occurs when the tonsils, small glands located at the back of the throat, become inflamed.
Ms Foster, a content creator and biomedical scientist, was put on an intravenous drip and said doctors told her her condition was “probably” brought on by the “musty air” from her hotel room’s air conditioning.
She said: ‘The first night we had it (the air conditioning) very low in the room.
“I think I sleep more because of my mouth. It made me sick.”
“The doctor said it was most likely due to the air conditioning. They say it could be moldy air.
“I couldn’t take antibiotics orally, so I had to take injections for three days, twice a day. I was in a lot of pain.”
The tonsils, two lumps of tissue at the back of your mouth, are part of the immune system’s first line of defense against bacteria and viruses entering the mouth, meaning they can easily become infected.
“I’ve had tonsillitis before, but it’s never been this bad,” she said.
“If bacteria pass through the throat, they can reach the heart and other organs.”
Liana now wants to warn others to think twice before sleeping with the air conditioning on, unless they know it is regularly serviced.
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