Overview
- The Mirror, Daily Record and Wales Online highlighted NHS guidance on Wednesday that urges avoiding nicotine, alcohol, tea and coffee for at least six hours before bed.
- The NHS also advises going to bed only when sleepy, waking at the same time each day, unwinding for an hour, keeping the room dark and quiet, exercising during the day, and using comfortable bedding.
- It cautions against daytime naps, screens near bedtime, heavy late meals, workouts within four hours of sleep, sleeping in after a rough night, and driving while drowsy.
- The guidance defines short-term insomnia as under three months and long-term insomnia as three months or more, and it notes that about one in three people in the UK are affected, with higher rates in older adults.
- Medical groups warn that chronic poor sleep raises risks for diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and they point to cognitive behavioral therapy and short-term sleeping pills as primary treatments under clinical care.