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Steps for More, and Better, Sleep I regret that for most of my adult life, I treated sleep as more a luxury than a necessity. There was always something more to do before I crawled under the covers and turned out the light. I realize belatedly that I might have been more productive — and a lot nicer to live with — if I had given sleep its proper due. 在我成年后的大部分时间里，我将睡眠更多地看成是奢侈品而非必需品，对此我深感懊悔。我总觉得在盖上被子、关掉灯之前，还有什么事没做完。很久以后我才意识到，如果我能给予睡眠应有的尊重，也许我在工作中会更加富有成效，在生活中也更能胜任一个好伴侣的角色。 By failing to acknowledge chronic sleep deprivation, I dozed during countless cultural events, and on two occasions I fell asleep while driving, barely escaping disaster. I have since reordered my priorities and learned to avoid distractions and activities that can keep me from getting the sleep my body and mind really need. 我一度不愿承认自己长期缺觉的事实，结果在各种文化活动中打过瞌睡，有两次在开车时睡着，险些晾成大祸。打那以后我就重新安排了做事情的轻重缓急，躲开了一些娱乐活动，趁机补充身体和大脑亟需的睡眠。 About 70 million Americans sleep poorly or not nearly long enough to achieve the full physical, emotional and cognitive benefits sleep can bestow. There are myriad reasons, ranging from self-inflicted disruptions to those that are seemingly unavoidable. But there are also potential solutions to most of the factors that can interfere with sleep. For the sake of your health and longevity, I urge you to give them a try. 有约7000万美国人睡眠较差，或因为缺觉而无法得到睡眠所能够给予的充足的体力、情绪及认知益处。原因林林总总，有些是因个人造成，也有些貌似难以避免。但对于绝大多数干扰睡眠的因素，总会有办法解决。为了你的健康长寿，我鼓励你至少去尝试一下。 How much sleep do you need? Sleep requirements depend on age. Newborns sleep 16 to 18 hours a day, preschoolers need 11 to 12 hours, and elementary school children need 10 hours. Adolescents should get 9 to 10 hours, though most teenagers sleep only about seven hours. 你需要多少睡眠？睡眠量取决于年龄。新生儿每天睡16-18个小时，学龄前儿童需要11-12小时，小学生则要10小时。青春期少年应保证9-10小时睡眠，不过大部分青少年都只睡7小时。 Given the opportunity to sleep as long as they want, most adults average about eight hours a night. There are individual differences, of course, but the usual range is between seven and nine hours. Getting less than the amount of sleep you need during the school or workweek builds up a sleep debt that cannot be fully erased by “sleeping in” on the weekend. This pattern can also mess up your biological clock, making it hard to get up on Monday morning. 如果成年人能有机会想睡多久就睡多久，大部分人平均每晚可睡8小时左右。当然这当中存在个体差异，但通常睡眠长度都在7-9小时这个范围内。如果在上学或上班时，你无法得到自己需要的睡眠长度，你欠下的“睡眠债”将越积越多，而在周末补觉也不可能将欠下的债一笔勾销。这种睡眠模式还会打乱你的生物钟，让你在周一早上很难从床上爬起来。 It was long ago shown that a midafternoon nap of about 20 minutes can improve alertness and productivity and reduce mistakes among sleep-deprived workers, yet few employers offer a midday lie-down or provide a place for one. 很久以前就曾有研究显示，缺觉的员工如果能补个20分钟左右的午觉，他们就可以更清醒、更有效率，也会较少犯错，可甚少有雇主允许员工中午打盹，也不会提供午睡的地方。 Age also affects the quality of sleep and the amount of time spent in the various stages of sleep. These include REM, or rapid-eye-movement sleep (often called dream sleep), and three types of non-REM sleep: the light sleep of Stage 1, followed by the more relaxed sleep of Stage 2 and the most restorative deep sleep of Stage 3. 年龄也会影响睡眠质量和不同阶段睡眠的时间。睡眠包括了快速眼动睡眠（rapid eye movement, 简称REM，又称做梦睡眠）和三种类型的非快速眼动睡眠：第一期的浅睡眠，随后到来的第二期更为放松的睡眠，再到第三期最能补充元气的深睡眠。 Young children spend most of the night in deep sleep, which is why they can often sleep through loud noise, bright light and being carried from car to bed. 儿童睡觉时大部分时间处在深睡眠阶段，所以就算处在噪音、亮光的环境里，或者从车里被抱到床上，他们往往也能照睡不误。 But with age, the time spent in deep sleep diminishes and any number of disturbances can cause awakenings. For women going through menopause, for example, sleep is often interrupted by hot flashes. Even if there are no external disturbances, elderly people may be awakened many times during the night by the discomforts of illness or pain, the side effects of medication or the need to urinate. 随着年龄增长，深睡眠的长度渐短，而外觉的干扰总会让人惊醒。比方说，更年期的妇女常因潮热发作而导致睡眠时断时续。而老年人就算睡觉时没有外界干扰，也会因为病痛带来的不适、药物副作用或者需要起夜，导致一晚上可能醒来多次。 Poor sleep among the elderly may in part account for problems with memory and concentration, depressed mood and daytime sleepiness. I often see gray heads nodding off at events, even during matinees. 老年人睡眠质量不好，可能会导致记忆或注意力出现问题、情绪消沉、白天昏昏欲睡。我曾多次看到“银发族”在活动进行到一半时打起了瞌睡，甚至连看日场电影时也不例外。 If noise or light disturbs your sleep, you can counter them with a white-noise machine and light-blocking shades. Keep the room cool and avoid weighty covers. Two years ago, I summarized factors that commonly interfere with a good night’s sleep, but a quick review, followed by some valuable new tips that have helped me, may help you too. 如果噪音或光线影响了你的睡眠，你可以使用制造白噪音的机器及隔光窗帘。保持房间凉爽，避免盖过重的被子。两年前，我在文章里总结过一系列影响睡眠的常见原因，但对之进行简单回顾，并补充一些对我有益的新建议，也许也能帮助到你。 EXERCISE Physical activity leaves you tired, but if you do your workout within two or three hours of bedtime, you may be too revved up to fall asleep easily. 锻炼体力活动会令你困倦，但如果你在临睡前的两三个小时内进行健身，可能会因为太兴奋而无法快速入睡。 MEDICATION Many drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, contain stimulating chemicals like pseudoephedrine and caffeine, commonly found in decongestants and painkillers. Beta-blockers, used to treat certain heart conditions and high blood pressure, may be disruptive as well. Ask your doctor if you can use an alternative drug. 药物 很多药物，包括处方药和非处方药含有像伪麻黄碱和咖啡因这类刺激性化合物，在减充血剂和止痛剂中尤为常见。用于治疗某些心脏病和高血压的β-阻断剂，也可能影响睡眠。你可以咨询医生，了解是否可以换药。 FOOD AND DRINK Eating a big meal close to bedtime can be a problem, especially if you are prone to indigestion. Drinking a caffeinated beverage late in the day can disturb the sleep of anyone who has not developed a tolerance to caffeine by drinking too much of it. Caffeine’s stimulating effects can last for six to eight hours and make it hard to fall asleep or cause middle-of-the-night wakefulness. 饮食 临睡前吃顿大餐会影响睡眠，如果你容易消化不良，就更需注意了。要是你没有因喝大量咖啡而对咖啡因产生耐受，在晚间喝含咖啡因的饮料也会干扰睡眠。咖啡因的刺激作用可持续6-8小时，导致你难以入睡或半夜醒来。 Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but when its effects wear off hours later, you may wake up and be unable to get back to sleep. (I and others I know find wine especially problematic and avoid drinking it with dinner.) 酒精或许有助你入睡，但它会在几小时后失效，你将醒过来，并且很难继续入睡。（我和我我认识的一些人都发现，红酒对睡眠影响尤其大，因此在晚餐时尽量不喝酒。） STRESS Anxiety, excessive stress and difficulty shutting out worries trigger the release of body chemicals that act as stimulants. Try a relaxing bedtime ritual like a hot bath, meditation or progressive muscle relaxation, starting at the toes and working up to your head. Or, odd though it may seem, try reading something dull. 压力 焦虑、过多的压力、难以将忧虑释怀，都会促使身体产生类似兴奋剂的化合物。你可以尝试采取一些舒缓的睡前习惯，比如泡热水澡、冥想，或者进行渐进的肌肉放松，从脚趾头开始，一直放松到头部。要么你也可以读一本枯燥的书，虽然这建议看来有点无厘头。 If things you must remember or do the next day keep popping into your head, put a pad and pen next to the bed, write them down and then do your best to forget about them until morning. 如果你一直记挂着明天要做的事情，可以在床边放上纸笔，将它们写下来，然后尽量把这一切抛到脑后，等到天明后再办不迟。 OTHER TIPS Years ago I mentioned that leg cramps were waking me up well before the alarm, and readers responded with myriad solutions, from bedtime stretches to magnesium supplements. What has worked best: drinking about eight ounces of tonic water (diet version) every day. Tonic water contains modest amounts of quinine, which used to be sold over-the-counter to reduce leg cramps. 其他建议 几年前我曾在文章中提到，我总是因为腿抽筋，在闹钟响起前早早就醒了。读者提供了从睡前进行伸展运动到服镁剂在内的诸多建议。而对此的最佳解决方案是：每天喝约8盎司（合227克）的低卡路里汤力水。汤力水含有微量奎宁，过去这种非处方药可用于减少腿部抽筋。 Another innocuous sleep aid that has proved miraculous for me is a nightly supplement of melatonin, which the body naturally produces after dark. The pineal gland in the brain is inactive during the day, but after sundown it starts spewing melatonin into the bloodstream. 在我身上证明有奇效的另一种助眠方式，是每晚服一粒褪黑素，每到天黑时，身体就会自然生成这种激素。脑部的松果体在白天不活跃，而到日落时，它就开始将褪黑素泵送到血流中。 With a supplement on board, I fall asleep quickly, and if I awaken during the night, I return to sleep easily. A three-milligram supplement near bedtime is considered harmless and may help you as well, though it should not be given to children without consulting a doctor. 吃一粒褪黑素，我可以很快睡着，而且就算夜间醒来，也能很快重新入睡。睡前服用3毫克的褪黑素是安全的，或许也能帮助你入睡，不过在未经医生许可下不要给儿童服用。 If hot flashes are your current problem, ask your doctor about trying the prescription drug gabapentin. 如果你目前遇到了潮热发作的问题，可以咨询医生，看看是否可服用处方药加巴喷丁(gabapentin)。 |
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