Five things that stop a good night’s sleep
Source : BBC 27 November 2012
Tossing, turning, can't get to sleep? It's a familiar feeling for many. Here are five things that could be preventing us from getting the restful night we need.
輾轉反側，無法成眠？ 對許多人來說，這是一種熟悉的感覺。這裡有五件事情阻止我們獲得所需要的休憩夜晚。
An uncomfortable or noisy environment
身處不適或嘈雜的環境
As we start to fall asleep, our muscle tone reduces and our limbs begin to relax. We may feel drowsy but our brain is still active, and any noise or discomfort can make it hard to fall asleep.
當我們開始入眠時，我們的肌肉張力減低，四肢開始放鬆。我們可能會覺得昏昏欲睡，但大腦仍處於活動狀態，任何噪音或不適讓其難以入睡。
As we drift into light sleep, an area of the brain called the thalamus starts to block the flow of information from our senses to the rest of the brain. But it will still let through noises, which can wake us up.
當我們睡眠轉至淺睡，大腦的一個被稱為丘腦的地區開始封鎖信息以免流入我們的感官讓大腦休息，其餘的大腦。但它仍然可讓聲音通過，以喚醒我們。
After about half an hour of light sleep, most of us enter a type of deep sleep called slow-wave sleep. The changes in the brain neurochemistry typical of deep sleep, make it harder to be woken up. But some things will always get through - such as our names being called out loudly.
約略經過半小時的淺睡眠，我們大多數人進入一個稱為慢波睡眠的深度睡眠。典型的深度睡眠中的大腦神經化學發生變化，使其更難被喚醒。但有些事情總是能通過 - 如大聲叫我們的名字。
Missing out on any part of our usual cycle of sleep results in reduced quality and quantity of sleep.
錯過了我們平時的睡眠週期的任何部分會使睡眠數量和質量下降。
An irregular routine
失序
We all have a built-in body clock which tells us when we are tired, and helps synchronise thousands of cells in our body to the circadian rhythm.
我們每個人都有一個內置的生理時鐘，當我們累了時會提醒我們，並幫助協調處理我們身體裡成千上萬的細胞之晝夜節律。
The main synchroniser for our body clock is light. Our eyes react to the light and dark, even when our eyelids are closed.
我們的生理時鐘的同步器的主要是光線。即使我們的眼皮緊閉我們的眼睛對光明與黑暗仍反應。
Daylight prompts our brains to reduce the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. We become more alert, and wake up.
日光提示我們的大腦以減少睡眠荷爾蒙褪黑激素的生產。使我們變得更加警覺，而清醒了。
If we sleep less, because of going to bed late or waking up early, we're unlikely to get as much deep sleep as we need, or enough of the stage that comes after it - REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when we do most of our dreaming.
如果因為要晚睡早起而使我們睡得少，我們不可能進入深度睡眠，因為我們需要盡可能多的深度睡眠，足夠進入它後面的階段 - 快速眼動（REM）睡眠，這是我們做夢時的階段。
Stimulants - coffee, alcohol, food
興奮劑 - 咖啡，酒，食品
Caffeine is a stimulant which can stay in our system for many hours. Drinks high in caffeine make it harder to fall asleep and can result in more time in the lighter stages of sleep, with less deep sleep.
咖啡因這種興奮劑，可以停留在我們的系統中好幾個小時。飲料中的咖啡因，使其難以入睡，並可能導致更多的時間在更淺的睡眠階段，減少深度睡眠。
Drinking alcohol often makes us snore more, making it harder to breathe, and so making us more restless.
經常飲用酒精則使我們常打鼾，使我們難以呼吸，同時也使我們更加焦躁不安。
Although alcohol initially helps some of us fall asleep, too much of it may disrupt sleep. A lot of alcohol close to bedtime means we can go straight into deep sleep, missing out on the usual first stage of sleep.
雖然酒精最初幫助一些人容易睡著，但大多的可能是會擾亂睡眠。很多人睡前飲酒是因可以直接進入深睡狀態，而錯過平常性的第一階段的睡眠。
As the alcohol starts to wear off, our bodies come out of deep sleep and back into REM sleep, which is much easier to wake from.
而當酒精開始穿脫出來，我們的身體進入REM睡眠，這是更容易喚醒的深度睡眠狀態。
In the course of a night we usually have six to seven cycles of REM sleep, which leaves us feeling refreshed. However, a night of drinking means we'll typically have only one to two, and wake up feeling exhausted.
在一個晚上的過程中，我們通常有六至七個REM睡眠週期，這讓我們感覺神清氣爽。然而，喝了一夜的酒的人則通常僅有一到兩個週期，此時醒來反而更感到疲憊。
Eating a large, heavy meal too close to bedtime may also interfere with sleep. Spicy or fatty foods can cause heartburn, which leads to difficulty in falling asleep and discomfort throughout the night.
而在睡前大吃一頓，吃得太飽或太接近上床時間吃東西，也可能干擾睡眠。辛辣或油膩的食物會造成胃灼熱，從而導致整個晚上難以入睡和睡眠不適。
Foods containing a chemical called tyramine (examples include bacon, cheese, nuts and red wine) can keep us awake at night.
食品含有一種化學物質叫酪胺（例如燻肉，乳酪，堅果和紅葡萄酒）可以讓我們徹夜難眠。
Tyramine causes the release of noradrenaline, a brain stimulant. Carbohydrates, such as bread or pasta, have the opposite effect. They trigger the release of hormone serotonin, which makes us sleepy.
酪胺會釋放去甲腎上腺素，大腦興奮劑。碳水化合物，如麵包或麵食，產生相反的效果。觸發釋放的荷爾蒙血清素，這使我們昏昏欲睡。
PS:
Noradrenaline (去甲腎上腺素)
主要激動α受體，對β受體激動作用很弱，具有很強的血管收縮作用，使全身小動脈與小靜脈都收縮（但冠狀動脈血管擴張），外周阻力增高，血壓上升。興奮心臟及抑制平滑肌的作用
比腎上腺素弱。
The wrong body temperature
錯誤的體溫
Our core body temperature goes down when we sleep. It's controlled by our body clock, which starts to open up the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet, to lose heat, as we approach the time we should be sleeping.
當我們睡覺時，我們的核心體溫下降。它是由我們的身體時鐘控制，當我們接近生理睡眠時間的時候，我們應該睡覺，始其打通手，臉和腳的血管，以降低熱量。
But if our bedrooms or duvets are too warm, our bodies can't lose heat. That can lead to restlessness and discomfort.
但是，如果我們的臥室或羽絨被過暖熱，我們的身體不能失去熱量。這可能會導致煩躁不安和不適。
Our core temperature should only be half a degree less than during the day. If we get too cold, we get restless.
我們的核心溫度應比白天少半度。如果我們太冷了，我們會變得焦躁不安。
A busy mind
忙碌的心靈
Stress is the enemy of sleep. In bed, our mind is left free to wander, and feeling anxious about getting enough sleep will only make it worse.
壓力是睡眠的敵人。在床上，我們的心是自由漫想，渴望得到足夠睡眠的感覺，只會使情況變得更糟。
In these states people lose track of time. You may nod off and wake up again but it may still feel as if you are getting no sleep at all. This can result in fragmented sleep with less time spent in the deep stages of sleep.
在這些狀況中，人們失去時間軌跡。您可能打瞌睡然後醒來，但仍然覺得一點也沒有睡。這可能會導致花費更少的時間在深睡眠階段而使睡眠支離破碎。
Sleep experts recommend getting up and doing an activity which distracts our mind from worry - such as a puzzle - before trying to sleep again.
睡眠專家建議再次嘗試睡覺前起床做些活動- 如拼圖益智活動 -以分散我們的心使其無憂。
Sources: Dr Chris Idzikowski, Director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, Professor Jim Horne, Director of the Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre, Dr Dev Banerjee, consultant sleep physician.
資料來源：Dr Chris Idzikowski，愛丁堡睡眠研究中心教授吉姆·霍恩，英國拉夫堡大學睡眠研究中心，開發班納吉博士，睡眠顧問醫師。
Illustration(插圖): Handsome Frank/Emily Robertson
Stages of sleep
睡眠階段
Sleep is essential to maintaining normal levels of cognitive skills such as speech, memory, and flexible thinking. Sleep plays a significant role in brain development.
為使如語言，記憶和靈活的思維，保持正常水平認知技能，睡眠是必不可少的。在大腦發育中，睡眠起著重要的作用。
Every 60-100 minutes we go through a cycle of four stages of sleep before entering dream sleep
在進入有夢睡眠之前我們每60-100分鐘才進入睡眠四個階段的循環週期。
Stage 1 is a drowsy, relaxed state between being awake and sleeping
第1階段是昏昏欲睡的，在放鬆的狀態下界於清醒和睡眠之間。
Stage 2 is a period of light sleep where heart rate slows and body temperature decreases, getting ready for
deep sleep
第2階段是一段淺睡眠的時間，此時心跳速率減慢，體溫下降，為深度睡眠做準備。
Stage 3 and Stage 4, or deep sleep are hard to wake up from because there is the lowest amount of activity in your brain and body
第三階段和第四階段，或深度睡眠，因大腦和身體此時的活動量最低故很難醒來。
After deep sleep, we go back to Stage 2 and then enter dream sleep - also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep
Tossing, turning, can't get to sleep? It's a familiar feeling for many. Here are five things that could be preventing us from getting the restful night we need.
輾轉反側，無法成眠？ 對許多人來說，這是一種熟悉的感覺。這裡有五件事情阻止我們獲得所需要的休憩夜晚。
An uncomfortable or noisy environment
身處不適或嘈雜的環境
As we start to fall asleep, our muscle tone reduces and our limbs begin to relax. We may feel drowsy but our brain is still active, and any noise or discomfort can make it hard to fall asleep.
當我們開始入眠時，我們的肌肉張力減低，四肢開始放鬆。我們可能會覺得昏昏欲睡，但大腦仍處於活動狀態，任何噪音或不適讓其難以入睡。
As we drift into light sleep, an area of the brain called the thalamus starts to block the flow of information from our senses to the rest of the brain. But it will still let through noises, which can wake us up.
當我們睡眠轉至淺睡，大腦的一個被稱為丘腦的地區開始封鎖信息以免流入我們的感官讓大腦休息，其餘的大腦。但它仍然可讓聲音通過，以喚醒我們。
After about half an hour of light sleep, most of us enter a type of deep sleep called slow-wave sleep. The changes in the brain neurochemistry typical of deep sleep, make it harder to be woken up. But some things will always get through - such as our names being called out loudly.
約略經過半小時的淺睡眠，我們大多數人進入一個稱為慢波睡眠的深度睡眠。典型的深度睡眠中的大腦神經化學發生變化，使其更難被喚醒。但有些事情總是能通過 - 如大聲叫我們的名字。
Missing out on any part of our usual cycle of sleep results in reduced quality and quantity of sleep.
錯過了我們平時的睡眠週期的任何部分會使睡眠數量和質量下降。
An irregular routine
失序
We all have a built-in body clock which tells us when we are tired, and helps synchronise thousands of cells in our body to the circadian rhythm.
我們每個人都有一個內置的生理時鐘，當我們累了時會提醒我們，並幫助協調處理我們身體裡成千上萬的細胞之晝夜節律。
The main synchroniser for our body clock is light. Our eyes react to the light and dark, even when our eyelids are closed.
我們的生理時鐘的同步器的主要是光線。即使我們的眼皮緊閉我們的眼睛對光明與黑暗仍反應。
Daylight prompts our brains to reduce the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. We become more alert, and wake up.
日光提示我們的大腦以減少睡眠荷爾蒙褪黑激素的生產。使我們變得更加警覺，而清醒了。
If we sleep less, because of going to bed late or waking up early, we're unlikely to get as much deep sleep as we need, or enough of the stage that comes after it - REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when we do most of our dreaming.
如果因為要晚睡早起而使我們睡得少，我們不可能進入深度睡眠，因為我們需要盡可能多的深度睡眠，足夠進入它後面的階段 - 快速眼動（REM）睡眠，這是我們做夢時的階段。
Stimulants - coffee, alcohol, food
興奮劑 - 咖啡，酒，食品
Caffeine is a stimulant which can stay in our system for many hours. Drinks high in caffeine make it harder to fall asleep and can result in more time in the lighter stages of sleep, with less deep sleep.
咖啡因這種興奮劑，可以停留在我們的系統中好幾個小時。飲料中的咖啡因，使其難以入睡，並可能導致更多的時間在更淺的睡眠階段，減少深度睡眠。
Drinking alcohol often makes us snore more, making it harder to breathe, and so making us more restless.
經常飲用酒精則使我們常打鼾，使我們難以呼吸，同時也使我們更加焦躁不安。
Although alcohol initially helps some of us fall asleep, too much of it may disrupt sleep. A lot of alcohol close to bedtime means we can go straight into deep sleep, missing out on the usual first stage of sleep.
雖然酒精最初幫助一些人容易睡著，但大多的可能是會擾亂睡眠。很多人睡前飲酒是因可以直接進入深睡狀態，而錯過平常性的第一階段的睡眠。
As the alcohol starts to wear off, our bodies come out of deep sleep and back into REM sleep, which is much easier to wake from.
而當酒精開始穿脫出來，我們的身體進入REM睡眠，這是更容易喚醒的深度睡眠狀態。
In the course of a night we usually have six to seven cycles of REM sleep, which leaves us feeling refreshed. However, a night of drinking means we'll typically have only one to two, and wake up feeling exhausted.
在一個晚上的過程中，我們通常有六至七個REM睡眠週期，這讓我們感覺神清氣爽。然而，喝了一夜的酒的人則通常僅有一到兩個週期，此時醒來反而更感到疲憊。
Eating a large, heavy meal too close to bedtime may also interfere with sleep. Spicy or fatty foods can cause heartburn, which leads to difficulty in falling asleep and discomfort throughout the night.
而在睡前大吃一頓，吃得太飽或太接近上床時間吃東西，也可能干擾睡眠。辛辣或油膩的食物會造成胃灼熱，從而導致整個晚上難以入睡和睡眠不適。
Foods containing a chemical called tyramine (examples include bacon, cheese, nuts and red wine) can keep us awake at night.
食品含有一種化學物質叫酪胺（例如燻肉，乳酪，堅果和紅葡萄酒）可以讓我們徹夜難眠。
Tyramine causes the release of noradrenaline, a brain stimulant. Carbohydrates, such as bread or pasta, have the opposite effect. They trigger the release of hormone serotonin, which makes us sleepy.
酪胺會釋放去甲腎上腺素，大腦興奮劑。碳水化合物，如麵包或麵食，產生相反的效果。觸發釋放的荷爾蒙血清素，這使我們昏昏欲睡。
PS:
Noradrenaline (去甲腎上腺素)
主要激動α受體，對β受體激動作用很弱，具有很強的血管收縮作用，使全身小動脈與小靜脈都收縮（但冠狀動脈血管擴張），外周阻力增高，血壓上升。興奮心臟及抑制平滑肌的作用
比腎上腺素弱。
The wrong body temperature
錯誤的體溫
Our core body temperature goes down when we sleep. It's controlled by our body clock, which starts to open up the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet, to lose heat, as we approach the time we should be sleeping.
當我們睡覺時，我們的核心體溫下降。它是由我們的身體時鐘控制，當我們接近生理睡眠時間的時候，我們應該睡覺，始其打通手，臉和腳的血管，以降低熱量。
But if our bedrooms or duvets are too warm, our bodies can't lose heat. That can lead to restlessness and discomfort.
但是，如果我們的臥室或羽絨被過暖熱，我們的身體不能失去熱量。這可能會導致煩躁不安和不適。
Our core temperature should only be half a degree less than during the day. If we get too cold, we get restless.
我們的核心溫度應比白天少半度。如果我們太冷了，我們會變得焦躁不安。
A busy mind
忙碌的心靈
Stress is the enemy of sleep. In bed, our mind is left free to wander, and feeling anxious about getting enough sleep will only make it worse.
壓力是睡眠的敵人。在床上，我們的心是自由漫想，渴望得到足夠睡眠的感覺，只會使情況變得更糟。
In these states people lose track of time. You may nod off and wake up again but it may still feel as if you are getting no sleep at all. This can result in fragmented sleep with less time spent in the deep stages of sleep.
在這些狀況中，人們失去時間軌跡。您可能打瞌睡然後醒來，但仍然覺得一點也沒有睡。這可能會導致花費更少的時間在深睡眠階段而使睡眠支離破碎。
Sleep experts recommend getting up and doing an activity which distracts our mind from worry - such as a puzzle - before trying to sleep again.
睡眠專家建議再次嘗試睡覺前起床做些活動- 如拼圖益智活動 -以分散我們的心使其無憂。
Sources: Dr Chris Idzikowski, Director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, Professor Jim Horne, Director of the Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre, Dr Dev Banerjee, consultant sleep physician.
資料來源：Dr Chris Idzikowski，愛丁堡睡眠研究中心教授吉姆·霍恩，英國拉夫堡大學睡眠研究中心，開發班納吉博士，睡眠顧問醫師。
Illustration(插圖): Handsome Frank/Emily Robertson
Stages of sleep
睡眠階段
Sleep is essential to maintaining normal levels of cognitive skills such as speech, memory, and flexible thinking. Sleep plays a significant role in brain development.
為使如語言，記憶和靈活的思維，保持正常水平認知技能，睡眠是必不可少的。在大腦發育中，睡眠起著重要的作用。
Every 60-100 minutes we go through a cycle of four stages of sleep before entering dream sleep
在進入有夢睡眠之前我們每60-100分鐘才進入睡眠四個階段的循環週期。
Stage 1 is a drowsy, relaxed state between being awake and sleeping
第1階段是昏昏欲睡的，在放鬆的狀態下界於清醒和睡眠之間。
Stage 2 is a period of light sleep where heart rate slows and body temperature decreases, getting ready for
deep sleep
第2階段是一段淺睡眠的時間，此時心跳速率減慢，體溫下降，為深度睡眠做準備。
Stage 3 and Stage 4, or deep sleep are hard to wake up from because there is the lowest amount of activity in your brain and body
第三階段和第四階段，或深度睡眠，因大腦和身體此時的活動量最低故很難醒來。
After deep sleep, we go back to Stage 2 and then enter dream sleep - also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep
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