The commercial, starring Luisa Ranieri, for a famous tea brand with the catchphrase “Anto’, it’s hot” has become the symbol of sleepless nights and not only for Italians struggling with the heat. “In summer we always sleep worse than in winter and the heat does not go well with sleep. While the cold ‘encourages’ night rest, in fact when it gets very late at a certain point we start to feel a bit cold and this is the signal with which the body tells us to go to sleep. Usually it happens at 5 in the morning, but the same mechanism is triggered around 3 pm, the famous ‘nap’ that we would like to take, but we can’t. These are the two moments of greatest sleepiness. In the second case, people are convinced that the cause is having eaten and the beginning of digestion, but this is not the case. Then there is also a sleep hygiene that must be respected and often we don’t do it, beyond those who suffer from insomnia”. This is what Loreta Di Michele, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine expert at the AO San Camillo-Forlanini in Rome, told Adnkronos Salute.
How can we ‘help’ improve the quality of sleep even in summer? Can air conditioning be a turning point or is it better to leave the windows open? “Technology helps us, but we must use it intelligently – Di Michele replies – Air conditioning yes, personally I think dehumidification is better, but be careful for those with a weak respiratory system, ex-smokers with emphysema or asthmatics”.
Air conditioning “must be used wisely – she recommends – because a boiling hot bedroom is no good, but the temperature difference between outside and inside is worse: the rule is that you can go down by 6 points, but you must not go beyond that. But air conditioning is often abused and in fact in summer as a pulmonologist I see many more tracheobronchitis than in winter. Recent studies – she recalls – have highlighted how global warming damages the structure of the respiratory mucosa, the vibratile cilia no longer work, and in fact bronchial asthma will take over other pathologies”.
Are there certain habits, such as sleeping with your pet or playing sports late at night, that can help or harm the gentle ‘descent’ into sleep? “Man is always an animal – replies the sleep medicine expert – and therefore subject to reflexes that are always timed. So respecting the times, in getting ready for the night, the rituals in short. Putting on your pyjamas, brushing your teeth, for example. You begin to perceive that your eyelid is ‘drooping’ and therefore you prepare for sleep. It is clear that using your cell phone in bed is not good, as is too intense physical exercise: I would avoid going to the gym at 9 pm. Sleep is deactivation, isolation from what is happening around you, re-establishes a balance”.
And supplements? “The melatonin pill is not a hormone, you can take it and it doesn’t hurt,” explains Di Michele. A pet lying next to us in bed “can keep company and give security to those with emotional deficits or to the elderly.” Can a cold shower on a muggy night help us relax and fall asleep? “It is not recommended for those who suffer from insomnia,” he specifies, “while a cup of milk containing tryptophan can help us relax.”
“In short, we must also remember to indulge our metabolism, whether we are ‘larks’ (early birds) or ‘night owls’ (late risers). We must not lose our cyclical nature, even if a minimum shift in schedules is tolerated. We may make some exceptions on vacation, but biological rhythms must be respected. It often happens that insomniacs are treated with a chat and not with drugs”, concludes pulmonologist Di Michele.
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