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Sound Sleep = Sound Health! |

Optimal Levels of Well-Being: Laughter, Happiness, and Good Relationships

• Another aspect of a healthy lifestyle is sleep. Different characteristics of sleep are important and both sleep quantity and quality should be considered (Cappuccio et al 2008) (Haseli-Mashhadi et al 2009) (Knutson et al 2007) (Van Cauter et al 2007).
• Studies have shown that as our age increases, the quantity and quality of our sleep deteriorates. Given that there has been a reduction in the population’s total average sleep time over the past 100 years the relative impact of these changes could increase (Cappuccio, Taggart 2008) (Haseli-Mashhadi, Dadd 2009) (Knutson, Spiegel 2007) (Van Cauter, Holmback 2007).
• Among Americans, for example, the modal sleep duration has decreased one hour (from 8 to 7) in the last four decades. By 2004, more than 30% of adult men and women between the ages of 30 and 64 years reported sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night (Van Cauter, Holmback 2007).
• Recent studies have demonstrated that even relatively short periods of sleep restriction lead to increased visceral adipose tissue (fatty tissue) and cardio-metabolic risk (Knutson, Spiegel 2007, Van Cauter, Holmback 2007).
• Lack of sleep impairs our ability to think, function and learn.
• Short sleep duration is consistently related to an increased risk of obesity in children and adults including older adults (Cappuccio, Taggart 2008).
• Sleep disturbances in people over 65 have also been found to be associated with current and future depression and disability (Livingston et al 1993).
• Different mechanisms have been suggested to explain the effects that sleep exerts on metabolism. For example, sleep exerts modulatory effects on hormones: the secretion of growth hormone and prolactin is increased during sleep, whereas the release of cortisol and thyrotropin is inhibited. Furthermore, sleep deprivation also affects the hormonal control of carbohydrate metabolism and water and electrolyte balance (Knutson,Spiegel 2007, Livingston, Blizard 1993, Van Cauter, Holmback 2007).
• Recent studies have also suggested a significant association between sleep restriction with weight gain and increased diabetes risk. These associations appear to occur through three different pathways: alterations in glucose clearance, upregulation of appetite and decreased energy expenditure (Knutson, Spiegel 2007, Livingston, Blizard 1993, Van Cauter, Holmback 2007).
• Using the population from the Nurses Health Study, researchers from Harvard University found among women that sleeping 5 hours or fewer compared to those that slept 7 to 8 hours had a 57% increased risk of developing diabetes during 10 years of follow-up and a 15% increased risk of total mortality (Ayas, White, Al-Delaimy et al 2003, Ayas, White, Manson et al 2003).
• But what are the factors that determine the quality and quantity of sleep? Stranges et al evaluated adult populations from the United Kingdom and compared them with adult populations living in New York (Stranges et al 2008).
• The authors found that being unmarried, being overweight, and having poor general health were associated with a shorter duration of sleep and may contribute to the observed associations between sleep and disease (Stranges, Dorn 2008).
• Scientists have also explored the converse effects of sleep and shown that good sleep is related to positive psychological states, although the directionality (i.e., does good sleep lead to higher well-being or vice-versa) and underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear.

  Additional Information

  http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm

  http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sleep/tips.htm

  http://www.asaging.org/CDC/index.cfm

  http://www.sleepfoundation.org/

   

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• Optimal human health lies beyond the mere absence of illness. Part of optimising health is maintaining the HAPY phenotype, which includes having a sense of purpose and direction in life, having good quality relationships with others and opportunities to realize one’s potential.
• This in turn contributes to a physiological homeostasis of the body (Franco, Karnik 2009, Salovey et al 2000).The heavenly seven are not mutually exclusive or compartmentalized, and improvements you make to your lifestyle in one area can result is positive outcomes in others. For example, physical activity has benefits for your mental well-being in addition to benefits in physical health – a 2005 review found that regular physical activity improved general as well as health related quality of life, improvements in functional capacity and better mood states (Penedo et al 2005).
• Happiness predicts longevity among healthy populations, showing strong evidence of protection against becoming ill (Ryff et al 2006, Ryff et al 2004).
• Well-being is a complex multi-dimensional concept and there are two main approaches to its study: (Ryan et al 2001):
  • (i) The eudaimonic approach: centres on the fulfilment of personal potential and living a meaningful life and is concerned with having purpose in life, self-acceptance, personal growth and positive inter-personal relationships. Eudaimonia is a classical Greek word commonly translated as ‘fullfillment of potential’.
  • (ii) The hedonic approach (also known as subjective well-being or happiness) refers to personal satisfaction, happiness and contentment. Hedonic derives from the Greek word hedonismos meaning delight.
• Well-being contributes to the effective functioning of all human biological systems aiding to maintain resilience, to avoid vulnerability and the occurrence of disease, and to accelerate rapid and satisfactory recovery.
• Ryff, Singer and Love provided preliminary evidence from a sample of older women (over 65) that individuals with higher levels of eudaimonic well-being had lower levels of daily salivary cortisol, pro inflammatory cytokines, cardiovascular risk, and longer duration of REM sleep than those with lower levels of eudaimonic well-being (Ryff, Singer 2004).
• Further, the relationship between work and well-being points out that lack of paid employment was more strongly associated with a reduction in positive feelings than with an increase in psychological symptoms. Women over 65 in paid employment were found to have a very high level of positive well-being.
• Stay social and engaged: volunteering, writing, painting, travelling, generally doing activities that keep your body and mind working and thinking, respectively.
• Cognitive functioning:

Myth: aging is a time of irreversible mental decline and that dementia is universal and inevitable.

• Mental functioning: Having a clear and active mind is important because it can mean the difference between dependence and independent living.
• Purpose in life: researchers at Rush Medical Center in Chicago recently found that having a higher level of ‘purpose in life’ was associated with longer life in community dwelling older persons. Those who had greater purpose in life had 57% lower mortality risk.
• The spread of happiness in a large social network – happiness of others can spread over time.
• Cohen and Pressman, 2006 positive affect and health, suggest there is an association between positive emotions from people typical emotional experience ‘trait affective style’ and positive health, less sickness, lower morbidity and decreased symptoms of pain (Cohen et al 2006).
• Also, findings from the Whitehall II study, for example, have shown that high levels of well-being are associated with reduced neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and cardiovascular activity (Steptoe et al 2008, 2008).
• Adequate management of stress has been associated with a 24% decrease risk of stroke (Surtees et al 2007). This suggests that interventions should aim to impact positive well-being in order to sustain both physiological and psychological homeostasis, therein maintaining resilience and the absence of frailty and disease.

  Additional information

  http://www.nationalwellness.org/index.php?id_tier=2&id_c=25
  
  https://www.health.harvard.edu/category/emotional-well-being-and-mental-health

  https://www.health.harvard.edu/special_health_reports/Positive-Psychology

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