The Importance of Better Sleep: How To Restart a Healthy Daily Rhythm of Wake and Rest
Published
The Importance of Better Sleep:
How To Restart a Healthy Daily Rhythm of Wake and Rest
New Book Shows How a Good Night’s Rest
Can Help People Recover
from Chronic Illnesses Such as Long COVID
Invisible No More: Embracing Your Road to Recovery
from Long Covid and Other Complex Chronic Illnesses
by Dr. Ilene Sue Ruhoy
Is Slated for June 17 by St. Martin’s Essentials
NEW YORK — We all know some of the health benefits of a good night’s sleep — a clear mind, a focused brain, and a cheery disposition… and, of course, they don’t call it “beauty sleep” for nothing. But did you know that a truly good wake and rest rhythm can also help people suffering from long COVID and other complex chronic illnesses on their road to recovery?
In Invisible No More: Embracing Your Road to Recovery from Long Covid and Other Complex Chronic Illnesses (out June 17 via St. Martin’s Essentials), critically acclaimed neurologist and integrative physician Dr. Ilene Sue Ruhoy, MD, devotes a chapter, “Sleep and Your Circadian Cycle,” to the importance of sleep and how to restart a healthy circadian rhythm.
“Sleep restores us. It’s not just rest, and it does not just feel better when we sleep— there are critical physiological processes that need to happen during sleep, and if we are not sleeping well, we cannot get better. Period,” writes Dr. Ruhoy in the book. “You can’t just fix your sleep, though. You must develop a healthy, consistent 24-hour circadian rhythm. Wake time and sleep time depend on each other.”
Invisible No More mixes stories of her health journey with those of her patients, along with practical take-home tips. Here is a sample of the many tips from the “Sleep and Your Circadian Cycle” chapter of Invisible No More:
- Evening fast: Don’t eat during the three hours before bedtime.
- Evening Screen Fast: Discontinue all screens two hours before bed.
- Quiet Time: Take fifteen minutes to sit quietly prior to getting into bed.
- Dark Room: It’s important that the room is very dark. Hang blackout curtains and remove all devices that emit even the slightest light, including your phone, which should be charged in a separate room.
- Cool Room: Cold exposure stimulates the part of the nervous system that controls resting activity and opens your blood vessels to allow more blood to flow to parts of the body that need it, so it relaxes the body.
- Schedule: During your day, try to schedule meals and movement at around the same time each day. Aim to be in bed approximately the same time each night and to wake approximately the same time each morning.
For serious sleep dysfunction, however, Dr. Ruhoy suggests getting a sleep study done and addressing your trauma, stress, and health with a licensed therapist or other professional.
Invisible No More: Embracing Your Road to Recovery from Long Covid and Other Complex Chronic Illnesses, which aims to empower patients living with chronic and complex illnesses to take their health into their own hands and work with healthcare professionals to make actionable steps to improve their lives, will be available in hardcover, e-book, and audio formats on June 17 from St. Martin’s Essentials.
About Dr. Ilene Sue Ruhoy
Dr. Ilene Sue Ruhoy is a neurologist and environmental toxicologist who specializes in chronic and complex illness, including ME/CFS, EDS, and Long Covid. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, completed her residency in neurology at the University of Washington, and earned a PhD in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Nevada. In addition to her private practice in Seattle, WA, Dr. Ruhoy serves as a Medical Director, co-editor, and speaker on the role of connective tissue in neurological disease.
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