17 Mar Better Sleep Feels Like Winning the Lottery
Article below…
Improving your sleep quality is as beneficial to health and happiness as winning the lottery, according to research by the University of Warwick.
Dr. Nicole Tang in the Department of Psychology has discovered that working on getting a better night’s sleep can lead to optimal physical and mental wellbeing over time — and that quality of sleep is more important than how many hours you get.
Analyzing the sleep patterns of more than 30,500 people in UK households across four years, Dr. Tang finds that improving your sleep quality leads to levels of mental and physical health comparable to those of somebody who’s won a jackpot of around £200,000.
The study shows that positive changes in sleep over time — improved quality and quantity, and using less sleep medication — are linked with improved scores on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), which is used by mental health professionals to monitor psychological wellbeing in patients.
People surveyed who reported positive improved sleep scored a 2-point change in the GHQ — a result comparable to those recorded from patients completing an eight-week program of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy designed to improve psychological wellbeing.
Furthermore, the same people showed improved scores on the 12-Item Short Form Survey, which tests levels of physical and emotional health, as well as people’s ability to perform everyday activities.
Conversely, it was found that a lack of sleep, bad quality sleep, and using more sleep medication can lead to worsened medical and emotional states.
Dr. Tang’s research proves that improving the quality and quantity of sleep amongst the population — as well as discouraging the use of sleep medication — is an effective, simple and cheap method of raising the health and wellbeing of society as a whole.
Consequently, she argues that working on getting good quality sleep, and the reduction of sleep medication, should be promoted as a public health value — something that everyone can do easily to stay physically and mentally healthy.
Dr. Tang comments, “We are far from demonstrating a causal relationship, but the current findings suggest that a positive change in sleep is linked to better physical and mental wellbeing further down the line.
“It is refreshing to see the healing potential of sleep outside of clinical trial settings, as this goes to show that the benefits of better sleep are accessible to everyone and not reserved for those with extremely bad sleep requiring intensive treatments.
“An important next step is to look at the differences between those who demonstrate a positive and negative change in sleep over time, and identify what lifestyle factors and day-to-day activities are conducive to promoting sleep. Further research in this area can inform the design of public health initiatives.
Edublox keeps you abreast of research on reading, learning, brain development and neuroplasticity. Edublox offers cognitive development programs, aimed at developing and automatizing the foundational skills of reading, spelling, writing, mathematics and the skills required in the learning of subjects such as History. Edublox programs are effective for a variety of learning difficulties: reading difficulties, math difficulties, dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADD/ADHD.
Listen to one child’s remarkable progress after joining Edublox. After years of therapy Shirley Lindecke’s son was still struggling with reading and learning. But then she heard about Edublox and her son’s life changed…
Is your child struggling with reading and learning? Edublox can help:
Most of us take for granted the amazing processes that happen in our brain. Every bit of information, every question, and each fragment of sensory input is processed at lightning speed so that we can read, analyze, integrate, decide, answer and learn.
Struggling learners are often let down by these automatic processes. The ease of understanding new information that should have been normal becomes difficult. Learning that should have been easy is a frustrating effort. Reading that should have been effortless is a slow, embarrassing trial. Other problems may include:
* Inattention or loss of focus
* Reversal of letters and/or numbers
* Spelling difficulties
* Difficulty with homework
* Falling behind in class, sometimes even with special help or tutoring.
Edublox Online Tutor offers multisensory cognitive training that enables learners to overcome reading problems and learning challenges and reach their full potential. Over the last 30+ years, the company behind the Online Tutor e-learning platform, Edublox, has helped thousands of children to read, learn and achieve through home kits and learning clinics internationally. Our programs are founded on pedagogical research and more than three decades of experience demonstrating that weak underlying cognitive skills account for the majority of learning difficulties. Specific brain-training exercises can strengthen these weaknesses leading to increased performance in reading, spelling, writing, math and learning.
Edublox Reading Tutor aims at improving the cognitive skills that are foundational to reading and spelling, including concentration, visual and auditory processing, memory and reasoning ability. The program also comprises a comprehensive exercise aimed at teaching reading and spelling, and at expanding vocabulary.
Before starting Reading Tutor one needs to select the introductory level for the learner. Choose one of three: Basic, Intermediate or Advanced. Examples of the words in each level are provided — two start-up words and two words more toward the end.
* Basic: 2-4 letter words, starting with at and hop, and ending with twig and hope.
* Intermediate: 4-9 letter words, starting with kite and straight, and ending with continue and encourage.
* Advanced: 6-15 letter words, starting with thwart and rhythm, and ending with ophthalmologist and extraordinaire.
.
If your aim is to improve your child’s reading and spelling ability, or to address difficulties in these areas, Reading Tutor is the answer for your child.
