Search

Placeholder Content Image

An unbroken night’s sleep is a myth. Here’s what good sleep looks like

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amy-reynolds-424346">Amy Reynolds</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/claire-dunbar-1651340">Claire Dunbar</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gorica-micic-187159">Gorica Micic</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-scott-424633">Hannah Scott</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-lovato-60684">Nicole Lovato</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a></em></p> <p>What do you imagine a good night’s sleep to be?</p> <p>Often when people come into our sleep clinic seeking treatment, they share ideas about healthy sleep.</p> <p>Many think when their head hits the pillow, they should fall into a deep and restorative sleep, and emerge after about eight hours feeling refreshed. They’re in good company – many Australians hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.09.011">the same belief</a>.</p> <p>In reality, healthy sleep is cyclic across the night, as you move in and out of the different stages of sleep, often waking up several times. Some people remember one or more of these awakenings, others do not. Let’s consider what a healthy night’s sleep looks like.</p> <h2>Sleep cycles are a roller-coaster</h2> <p>As an adult, our sleep moves through <a href="https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep">different cycles</a> and brief awakenings during the night. Sleep cycles last roughly 90 minutes each.</p> <p>We typically start the night with lighter sleep, before moving into deeper sleep stages, and rising again into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – the stage of sleep often linked to vivid dreaming.</p> <p>If sleeping well, we get most of our deep sleep in the first half of the night, with <a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/stages-of-sleep#:%7E:text=During%20REM%20sleep%2C%20your%20eyes,from%20acting%20out%20your%20dreams">REM sleep</a> more common in the second half of the night.</p> <p>Adults usually move through five or six sleep cycles in a night, and it is entirely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.09.011">normal</a> to wake up briefly at the end of each one. That means we might be waking up five times during the night. This can increase with older age and still be healthy. If you’re not remembering these awakenings that’s OK – they can be quite brief.</p> <h2>What does getting a ‘good’ sleep actually mean?</h2> <p>You’ll often hear that adults <a href="https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-topics/how-much-sleep-do-you-really-need#:%7E:text=Sleep%20requirements%20stabilise%20in%20early,their%20best%20the%20next%20day">need between seven and nine hours</a> of sleep per night. But good sleep is about more than the number of hours – it’s also about the quality.</p> <p>For most people, sleeping well means being able to fall asleep soon after getting into bed (within around 30 minutes), sleeping without waking up for long periods, and waking feeling rested and ready for the day.</p> <p>You shouldn’t be feeling excessively sleepy during the day, especially if you’re regularly getting at least seven hours of refreshing sleep a night (this is a rough rule of thumb).</p> <p>But are you noticing you’re feeling physically tired, needing to nap regularly and still not feeling refreshed? It may be worthwhile touching base with your general practitioner, as there a range of possible reasons.</p> <h2>Common issues</h2> <p>Sleep disorders are common. Up to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35478719/">25% of adults</a> have insomnia, a sleep disorder where it may be hard to fall or stay asleep, or you may wake earlier in the morning than you’d like.</p> <p>Rates of common sleep disorders such as insomnia and <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20377631">sleep apnoea</a> – where your breathing can partially or completely stop many times during the night – also increase with age, affecting <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32280974/">20% of early adults</a> and 40% of people in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35082023/">middle age</a>. There are effective treatments, so asking for help is important.</p> <p>Beyond sleep disorders, our sleep can also be disrupted by chronic health conditions – such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012369218311139">pain</a> – and by <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsr.13075">certain medications</a>.</p> <p>There can also be other reasons we’re not sleeping well. Some of us are woken by children, pets or traffic noise during the night. These “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07420528.2021.2003375">forced awakenings</a>” mean we may find it harder to get up in the morning, take longer to leave bed and feel less satisfied with our sleep. For some people, night awakenings may have no clear cause.</p> <p>A good way to tell if these awakenings are a problem for you is by thinking about how they affect you. When they cause feelings of frustration or worry, or are impacting how we feel and function during the day, it might be a sign to seek some help.</p> <p>We also may struggle to get up in the morning. This could be for a range of reasons, including not sleeping long enough, going to bed or waking up at irregular times – or even your own <a href="https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-categories/circadian-rhythm-disorders#:%7E:text=The%20circadian%20rhythms%20throughout%20the,regulation%20of%20our%20sleeping%20patterns">internal clock</a>, which can influence the time your body prefers to sleep.</p> <p>If you’re regularly struggling to get up for work or family needs, it can be an indication you may need to seek help. Some of these factors can be explored with a sleep psychologist if they are causing concern.</p> <h2>Can my smart watch help?</h2> <p>It is important to remember sleep-tracking devices can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01016-9">vary in accuracy</a> for looking at the different sleep stages. While they can give a rough estimate, they are not a perfect measure.</p> <p>In-laboratory <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31277862/">polysomnography</a>, or PSG, is the best standard measure to examine your sleep stages. A PSG examines breathing, oxygen saturation, brain waves and heart rate during sleep.</p> <p>Rather than closely examining nightly data (including sleep stages) from a sleep tracker, it may be more helpful to look at the patterns of your sleep (bed and wake times) over time.</p> <p><a href="https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.8356">Understanding your sleep patterns</a> may help identify and adjust behaviours that negatively impact your sleep, such as your bedtime routine and sleeping environment.</p> <p>And if you find viewing your sleep data is making you feel worried about your sleep, this may not be useful for you. Most importantly, if you are concerned it is important to discuss it with your GP who can refer you to the appropriate specialist sleep health provider.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/238069/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amy-reynolds-424346">Amy Reynolds</a>, Associate Professor in Clinical Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/claire-dunbar-1651340">Claire Dunbar</a>, Research Associate, Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gorica-micic-187159">Gorica Micic</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Clinical Psychologist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-scott-424633">Hannah Scott</a>, Research Fellow in Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicole-lovato-60684">Nicole Lovato</a>, Associate Professor, Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-unbroken-nights-sleep-is-a-myth-heres-what-good-sleep-looks-like-238069">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Body

Placeholder Content Image

Road rule test: Is it against the law to cross an unbroken double line?

<p>You would hope that licenced drivers would be aware of the road rules that are currently in place, but it turns out there is one rule that a surprising number of motorists aren’t aware of, and it has to do with road markings.</p> <p>A surprising number of motorists are under the impression that they are unable to cross an unbroken double line when driving, are you one of them? </p> <p>If living in the state of NSW, there are plenty of instances where drivers are permitted to cross unbroken double lines, and one of them is if you're entering or leaving a road.</p> <p>The idea that it is illegal to cross a continuous double or single line when driving off or on to a road is a myth.</p> <p>According to the NSW road rules. crossing a dividing line is allowed if entering or leaving a propery or road "by the shortest route."</p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="../media/7820974/capture.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/4c925f97f74c4f1f9a84a3926f4a15e5" />A good example is when coming out of a petrol station, it is perfectly legal to turn right over the dividing lines unless there is a sign specifically saying you can't.</p> <p>The rule applies to both double and single unbroken road markings.</p> <p>Drivers are also allowed to cross any type of dividing line when turning right at an intersection.</p> <p>Motorists in NSW are also permitted to cross unbroken lines if needing to maintain a safe distance when overtaking a bicycle rider or to avoid obstruction on the road.</p> <p>If passing a cyclist, drivers must leave a one metre gap in a 60km/h or less speed zone or 1.5 metres when the limit is above 60km/h.</p> <p>When deciding whether a road obstruction permits someone to cross double lines, drivers must use their own intuition and make sure they have a clear view of oncoming traffic, and if it is “necessary and reasonable in all circumstances” to cross the dividing line and if it is safe to do so.</p> <p>Speaking to <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/on-the-road/the-double-dividing-line-rule-many-aussie-drivers-are-getting-wrong/news-story/9baa90c6155e10810b64a83ea99348a0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>, Transport for NSW said that it is critical that all drivers are aware of the road rules, and update themselves regularly if any changes are made.</p> <p>“It is important that all road users know the rules and abide by them,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.</p> <p>“We will include this rule in the next Road Rules Awareness Week in early 2019.”</p> <p>Drivers in the Northern Territory and Western Australia are also allowed to turn right across double dividing lines when entering or leaving a property.</p> <p>It is illegal in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania to cross a double dividing line when entering or leaving a road.</p> <p>Motorists in Victoria are only permitted to cross double lines to avoid a potential hazard, while those in Queensland are only allowed if overtaking a cyclist.</p> <p>Tasmanians and South Australians are able to cross the line in both of these situations.</p> <p>According to <a href="http://mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/the-drivers-handbook/driving-road" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MyLicenceSA</a>, a “slower moving vehicle or a vehicle stopped in a line of traffic” is not considered an obstruction.</p> <p>But if a situation occurs where a driver is faced with a fallen tree, crashed vehicle or broken down car, then it is permitted to cross an unbroken line.</p> <p>In NSW, illegally crossing an unbroken like could cost you two demerit points and a $263 fine.</p> <p>Victoria and South Australia have the highest penalties for illegally crossing an unbroken line, with fines of $322 and $446 and both costing three demerit points.</p> <p>Queensland also has a three-demerit point penalty, along with a $234 fine.</p> <p>Drivers in Tasmania are subjected to a $203.75 fine and two demerit points while Western Australia has the lowest penalties at $150 but will cost drivers three demerit points.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Angelina Jolie’s secret Sydney home hits the market for $11 million

<p>A stunning Sydney home used by Angelina Jolie while she filmed <em>Unbroken</em> has hit the market.</p> <p>The Hollywood actress secretly used the home as a private wharf to secretly travel to Cockatoo Island, and now it is up for $11 million.</p> <p>The bright and airy house at 37 Duke Street, Balmain East was used by Jolie specifically for its private jetty, as she would board the boat that would then ferry her to Cockatoo Island undetected to direct her Academy Award-nominated film.</p> <p>Marcus Lloyd-Jones from Modern House said that the privacy of the home was what entranced Jolie, and now other buyers too.</p> <p>The property sits at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac that is used by only two other residences.</p> <p>Modern House’s Marcus Lloyd-Jones said this privacy was a major drawcard for Jolie and for interested buyers too.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842167/angelina-jolie.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7f56a0f52284421fb86fdb62347bdfaf" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Angelina Jolie during Unbroken. Image: Supplied</em></p> <p>“She was driven in [to the five-car garage], she would walk along the jetty, jump on whatever boat it was and go to Cockatoo Island to direct the movie and back the same way,” Mr Lloyd-Jones said.</p> <p>“It was incredibly private.”</p> <p>While Jolie used the home strictly as a thoroughfare, the home has many wonderful features including three incredible levels with harbour views.</p> <p>The Nordon Jago Architects-designed house sits on a 790-square-metre waterfront block with its own private beach, leased jetty and mooring for a 50-foot boat and boat storage.</p> <p>“Everything about this house is on a grand scale from the five-car garage to the 21.5-metre lap pool,” Mr Lloyd-Jones said.</p> <p>“I’d like somebody to show me a larger lap pool in Balmain and the list keeps going.</p> <p>“If somebody has a car collection or a large boat it’s truly the best of Sydney. That’s what’s on offer.”</p>

Real Estate

Our Partners

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.