If you equate getting older with needing—or getting—less sleep, here’s a wake-up call: It's not true! “The majority of us require between seven and nine hours of shut-eye a night," says Robert Oexman, D.C., director of the Sleep to Live Institute. “And there’s little reason—whether you’re 55 or 80—not to get it.” Barring disease, medication and pain (all legitimate sleep interrupters), if patients complain of bad sleep, Dr. Oexman looks at their nighttime habits, where the problem almost always resides.
如果你认为人慢慢长大变老，需要或得到的睡眠更少，那我来提醒你吧，不是这样的！睡眠与生命研究所所长，脊骨神经科医师罗伯特·欧克斯曼说道：“大多数人每晚需要7-9小时的睡眠时间。无论你是55还是80岁，都应该做到这一点。”疾病、药物和疼痛除外（这些都可能会干扰睡眠），如果病人抱怨睡不好觉，欧克斯曼医师会查看其晚间生活习惯来发现问题所在。
So, how are you sabotaging your z-z-z-z-z’s?
所以，你是怎样破坏自己的睡眠的呢？
Bad Habit #1: Watching TV until you fall asleep?
坏习惯一：看电视看到睡着
Why It Disrupts Sleep: It has nothing to do with what you watch—Downton Abbey isn’t a better pre-sleep choice than Dog the Bounty Hunter. Rather it’s the exposure to TV’s bright light that’s the culprit. Artificial bright light after dusk not only enhances alertness, but also delays the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. So even if you nod off (in front of the TV, for example), you probably won’t stay asleep for long.
为什么会影响睡眠：这和你看什么节目没有任何关系，因为《唐顿庄园》并不是比《赏金猎人》更好的睡前节目。反而是暴露在电视强光下才是影响你睡眠的罪魁祸首。天黑后的人造强光不仅让人增加警惕性，而且会延迟体内睡眠荷尔蒙——褪黑素的生成。所以即使你打盹了（比如在电视机前），你很可能也睡不了多久。
EZZZ Fix: An hour before bedtime, treat yourself like a baby: a warm bath, followed by a quiet activity in dim light—meditation, journal writing, reading. But no reading or writing on your computer before bed or in the middle of the night. (Almost half of the respondents in the AOL Email Addiction survey admitted to checking email during the night. If that’s you, keep technology out of the bedroom.)
解决方法：睡前一小时，让自己像婴儿一样：洗个热水澡，在暗淡的灯光下做些安静的事情-冥想，写日记，阅读。但是睡前或者半夜不能在电脑上阅读或者写东西。（几乎一半参与美国在线电子邮件上瘾调查的人们承认晚间会查看电子邮件。如果你也是这样，那么记得把高科技关在卧室外面吧。）
Bad Habit #2: Sleeping with Fido
坏习惯二：抱狗狗睡觉
Why It Disrupts Sleep: While animal-lovers argue the emotional benefits of sharing a pillow with their pets, research shows that pets can contribute to less than sound sleep. How? “Pets have different circadian rhythms than humans," says Oexman. “They sleep most of the day, and they shift a lot when sleeping—they get comfortable, then they move. This goes on all night, and whether you admit it or not, it interrupts your ability to get the level of sleep needed to feel rested." (As for pet dander and allergies—sneezing and wheezing are not great sleep enhancers.)
为什么会影响睡眠：动物爱好者认为和宠物一起睡觉有情感上的益处，然而研究表明宠物实际上会影响睡眠。这是怎么回事呢？“宠物和人有着不同的生理节律，”欧克斯曼说，“他们每天大多数时候都会睡，睡觉的时候经常动-他们觉得舒服，然后就会动。整晚都会这样，而且无论你承认与否，你都会不知不觉被影响而达不到自己需要的睡眠程度。（至于宠物皮屑和各种过敏导致的打喷嚏和喘息都是会影响睡眠的因素。）
EZZZ Fix: For two weeks, put your pooch or cat in a crate outside your closed bedroom door. When your pet can sleep quietly in the crate, move the crate inside your room for another two weeks. When the crate training is complete, try letting the dog or cat sleep in his own bed near your bed. Discourage all attempts to jump on your bed and reward all successes for staying in his own bed. (Caveat: Plan on interrupted sleep for a few weeks.)
解决方法：坚持两个星期，把家里的狗狗或者猫咪装在板条箱里，把箱子放在卧室外面，然后关起门来。等你的宠物可以在板条箱里安静地睡觉时，再把板条箱搬进卧室里面放两个星期。等这个板条箱里的训练完成时，试着让狗狗或者猫咪在离你床近的地方趴在自己的窝里睡。阻止它所有试图跳上你的床的尝试，奖励它乖乖在自己床上睡觉。（告诫：计划好有几个星期会睡不好觉。）
Bad Habit #3: Exercising too close to bedtime?
坏习惯三：临睡前做运动
Why It Disrupts Sleep: Remember how poorly you sleep when you have a fever—drifting in and out, never really feeling rested? Well, heavy exercise too close to bedtime has the same effect—it raises your core body temperature so that your sleep is fragmented at best until your body temperature drops to normal, which may take several hours.
为什么会影响睡眠：记得你发烧的时候睡眠多么糟糕么——模模糊糊地睡着醒来，都没怎么休息好。其实睡前做运动是一样的结果——这让你身体的核心体温升高，所以你的睡眠会断断续续直到你的体温降到正常范围，这可能会需要好几个小时。
EZZZ Fix: No hardcore exercise at least three hours before bedtime, so when you lay your sleepy head on the pillow, your body temp is normal. Also, keep the bedroom temperature between 65-58 degrees for the ideal sleeping climate. Too cold for you? Pile on the blankets; just make sure your head (no stocking cap, please) is exposed to the cooler air to help regulate your body temperature.
解决方案：睡前至少三小时内不要剧烈运动，这样当你疲倦的脑袋沾到枕头时，你的体温才是正常的。同时，最理想的睡眠条件是保持卧室温度在65-58华氏度（18.3-20摄氏度）之间。对你来说太冷？多盖上几层毯子；保证你的脑袋（请别戴绒线帽）置于冷空气中，帮助调节体温。
Bad Habit #4: Drinking too much liquid before bedtime
坏习惯四：睡前大量喝水
Why It Disrupts Sleep: The short answer—you have to get up and pee frequently.
为什么会影响睡眠：答案很简单-你需要频繁起床去卫生间。
EZZZ Fix: Need we also mention that coffee, tea, and colas, are not only diuretics, but also stimulants? Stop drinking caffeinated drinks after lunch and other liquids at least three hours before bedtime because peeing at night and aging do not automatically go hand in hand—unless you suffer from a prostate issue, sleep apnea, or weak pelvic muscles, in which case, see your doc for help with the related sleep issues.
解决方法：还需要跟你讲咖啡、茶和可乐类饮料不仅利尿，而且有刺激作用么？不要在午饭后喝咖啡因饮料，至少睡前三小时也不要喝其他东西。因为晚上上厕所和衰老并没有紧密联系，除非你有前列腺疾病，睡眠呼吸暂停或者盆腔肌肉脆弱，如果是这些情况，就去请医生帮忙解决和睡眠相关的问题吧。
Bad Habit #5: Eating fatty, heavy foods too close to bedtime?
坏习惯五：睡前吃油腻且难消化的食物
Why It Disrupts Sleep: Heartburn strikes anyone of any age, but it’s the most common GI disorder in older adults. If you’ve ever tried to go to sleep after eating a fatty meal, you’ve probably found the discomfort of stomach acids leaking into your esophagus less than conducive to falling asleep or staying asleep.
为什么影响睡眠：任何人任何年龄都可能会胃灼热，但这是老年人最常见的胃肠失调毛病。如果你试过在吃了一顿很油腻的饭后去睡觉，你可能会感受到由于胃酸进入食道而引起的不舒服，这不利于入睡或进入睡眠状态。
EZZZ Fix: Try to eat your last meal of the day at least 2-3 hours before bed time. Should you feel peckish before bed, consider a carbohydrate-rich snack. "Carbs stimulate melatonin production," says Dr. Oexman, "so have a (normal size) bowl of cereal, a half a bagel with a spread of hummus, or a small boiled potato." Or maybe have a serving of jasmine rice. According to the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating jasmine rice helped people in a study fall asleep faster than other types of rice. Who knew?
解决方案：尝试至少在入睡前2-3小时吃每天的一顿饭。如果你睡前肚子饿，考虑下富含碳水化合物的小吃吧。“碳水化合物能刺激褪黑激素的生成，”欧克斯曼医师说道，“所以来一碗（正常大小的碗）麦片，半个抹着鹰嘴豆沙的百吉饼，或者一个小点的煮土豆。”或者吃点香米。根据《临床营养学杂志》的一项调查研究，吃了香米的人比吃了其他种类的大米的人入睡更快。谁知道呢？
Bad Habit #6: Accepting snoring as normal sleep behavior
坏习惯六：明明睡觉打呼，却放弃治疗
Why It Disrupts Sleep: Snoring may seem as common as breathing, but it's considered the biggest sleep disrupter, and it's linked to several causes: sleeping on your back, being overweight, having a cold or allergies, drinking, or taking certain medications. At its most serious, it's caused by apnea, a potentially life-threatening illness. For the snorer, it disrupts sleep by awakening him/her every so often in order to breathe normally. For the partner, the noise can be deafening.
为什么影响睡眠：打鼾也许看似和呼吸一样正常，但它其实是扰乱睡眠的最重要因素，导致打呼噜的原因有好几种：仰着睡，超重，感冒/过敏，喝酒或者吃药。最严重的情形是，打呼是由呼吸暂停引起的一种威胁生命的潜在疾病。因为打呼噜的人每隔一段时间会醒来以保证正常呼吸，所以睡眠不可避免会被影响。
EZZZ Fix: For minor problems, try the obvious; lose weight, sleep on your side, take decongestants if you have a cold. In addition, Dr. Oexman recommends using a mouthguard, which is a non-invasive way to open the breathing passages. To rule out or diagnose apnea, consult your doctor. And never dismiss snoring as just a nuisance until you’ve discovered the underlying cause. That means no separate bedrooms as the quick fix.
解决方案：对于小问题，试试显而易见的方法：减肥，侧卧，感冒了服用去充血剂。除此之外，欧克斯曼医师推荐使用牙托，以一种非侵入式的方式打开呼吸道。去看医生以排除或者诊断呼吸暂停。而且在你发现潜在原因之前，永远不要认为打呼没什么大不了，而将它轻易打发掉。也就是说，不要将分房睡作为解决打呼问题的直接方案。
