Brain Fitness Tip: Get a Good Night’s Sleep

One of the most important ways to maintain brain fitness is by getting enough sleep.

Most of us know how we feel when we don’t get enough sleep. Research shows that lack of sleep can affect your memory, raise your blood pressure, and increase your risk of stroke.

But how do you get a good night’s sleep?

If you feel as though you’re not getting enough sleep, or as though your sleep isn’t leaving you feeling refreshed in the morning, the most important thing is to figure out why. Some changes in sleep are normal with increasing age and may lead you to feel as though you’re not sleeping well. Click here to find out more about normal changes in sleep with aging. If you feel as though you’re not sleeping well, ask your doctor for help.

Many sleep problems can be treated. If someone tells you that you snore, you wake up with a dry mouth, or you feel just as tired when you wake up as when you went to bed, sleep apnea may be the cause. Sleep apnea is a condition that causes a person to stop breathing during the night – sometimes many times during the night. When that happens, you wake up (even though you may not remember it) and your normal sleep is disrupted.

Other causes of sleep problems include depression, too much mental activity before bed time, drinking caffeine or smoking, and bad sleep habits. You can find out more about how to improve your sleep here. The website of the National Sleep Foundation has a number of articles about sleep and how to get a good night’s sleep. Learn more about how to sleep better. Your brain will work better and you’ll feel better, too.