Factors Affecting Sleep- Environment

What environmental factors can affect sleep?

The most important factor is the temperature. The brain acts slowly if its temperature is in a comfortable zone. Temperature controls the brain activity and in turn; the body activity. If it is cool it affects the brain to be in rest and one can sleep. Another factor is light - we need darkness or toned light - the mixture of dark and light. The third factor is sound. When we close our eyes we feel comfortable, but if sound is there our eyes will open so we need a quiet environment. The other factor is the surface of the mattress. The smoother the surface; the better we will sleep.

Does sharing a bed with a partner affect sleep?

Sharing beds with a partner has an impact. There has been experimental work which basically shows that if there is more than one person in a bed, everybody starts disturbing everybody else and it can lead to <a href="http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-effects-of-sleep-deprivation-2">sleep deprivation</a>. On the other hand, it's important for some people to be with other people while they sleep, and so there is emotional distress if they're not together, so it really depends what the person needs.

Does sharing a bed with a pet affect sleep?

As a general rule any live animal whether it's human or otherwise is going to distrub the sleep of the sleeper.

Will a change in surrounding affect our sleep?

A different environment, a new environment for a person, a new bedroom can affect everybody differently. Some people end up sleeping a little bit less well for a day or two, a night or two; the others will sleep better.

Does being in a smokey environment affect sleep?

The problem with smoking is it's likely to disturb breathing and so on, so the odds are, sleep will be poor.

Does being in a smokey environment affect non smokers sleep?

In terms of anything that disturbs breathing, one ends up with sleep that is more disturbed than it would normally be.

What is the optimum temperature for sleep?

We tend to recommend around seventeen degrees Centigrade, so slightly cooler room, but it's the same thing. One needs to be cozy when one goes to bed, and then the temperature needs to run down a little bit.

Why does sea air make you sleepy?

There was a study recently published on seasonal affective disorder where they were showing that dawn light alarm clocks were as affective if not a little bit more affective then the process of bright lights in the morning, which has been the general treatment. But they were also doing work on ionization of the air and high ionization levels were also associated with anti-depressant effects. The short answer is I don't know but I'm now beginning to go over and look at it to see what impact there is on ionization in the air.