News Release - November 1, 2007

Gain healthy sleep as you fall back in time
HealthPartners expert provides sleep tips for that extra hour


St. Paul, Minn.,– With daylight saving time coming to an end this weekend there are some basic sleep health tips for people to follow to ensure the time change doesn't disrupt their sleep.

Sleep is a necessity, and many people don't get enough of it, according to Jagdeep Bijwadia, M.D., medical director of the HealthPartners Sleep Health Center, a service of Regions Hospital, who added, "we spend almost one-third of our lives sleeping, so sleep health is very important."

Following are tips as daylight saving time ends:

• Maintain your regular bedtime Saturday night and wake up at your regular time. This extra hour of sleep may help reduce your sleep debt.
• Keep your sleeping area dark by blocking out the light because the time change means sunrise will occur about an hour earlier. Because light itself can disrupt sleep, it is always best to sleep in a darkened room until you wake up.
• Wake up at the same time each morning. Although many people love to sleep in on weekends, waking up at the same time each day can help you go to sleep faster at night and keep your sleep cycle more regular.
• Increase the light when you wake up. Light has an alerting affect that may help you wake up and it will also help adjust your biological clock to the "new" sleep schedule.
• If needed, gradually move your bedtime and awakening time later by 15 minutes every one to two days until you achieve your desired bedtime and wake up time.

Daylight saving time ends Sunday, Nov. 4, at 2 a.m. Change your clocks accordingly.

Regions Hospital is a Level I trauma center and teaching hospital, serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a private hospital providing outstanding care in women's health, heart, cancer, surgery, orthopaedics, burn, emergency care and more. Regions is part of the HealthPartners family of care. Additional information is available at regionshospital.com.

Contact: Jennifer Kovacich
(651) 254-4726
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