American Baby Boomers are staying up later and getting up earlier.
Over the last decade or so, people have cut their sleep by an hour on the average, thanks largely to anytime-anywhere technology like email, says Sonia Ancoli-Israel, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. Stress, a function of everything from longer work hours to the rise of terrorism, has also made sound sleep more elusive.
The research shows not only that poor health can disrupt sleep, but the other way around: Sleep disorders can cause heart disease and hypertension, or magnify arthritic pain.
What can you do to sleep better?
Here are some suggestions: shift your exercise schedules (three to six hours before bedtime helps promote sleep), take a warm bath, stop watching the news in bed at night.
If you must watch TV before bed, try to do it out of the bedroom or earlier "to not associate your bed with stress," says Dr. Ancoli-Israel.