As a specialist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre Sleep Clinic, Dr. Margaret Rajda sees patients with a number of different sleep disorders and issues. Sleep apnea and insomnia are two of the most common.
According to Dr. Rajda, one thing that doesn’t typically cause much disruption to sleep is daylight saving time.
“For example, if we travel to Ontario or Quebec or similar across one time zone, that amounts to one hour time difference and we don’t tend to be overly concerned about it,” she says.
Dr. Rajda says while it may not actually have a big impact, the time change does get people thinking about their sleep habits.
“It is a good opportunity to remember that sleep hygiene and a good sleep routine is just as important to our health as healthy eating habits, regular exercise and having a generally regular routine,” she tells CTV News.
Sleep is so important to our overall health, medical residents rotate through the clinic to complement their specialty training.
“You start to see quickly that there are a lot of medical conditions that affect sleep and sleep affects a lot of medical conditions,” says first year resident, Dr. Alex Whelen.
Dr. Whelen says his time working in the sleep clinic has taught him more about sleep issues and how they can impact his patients. He’s also learned about differentways to approach sleep treatment that don’t rely on medication.
“Here you get sort of a good understanding of how to approach patients’ sleep and how to make it better, how to tweak things and offer sleep hygiene,” he says.
Avoiding light and screen time before bed are good ways to practice healthy sleep hygiene. Dr. Rajda says if you want to feel your best, you might reconsider that weekend sleep-in.
“The most important tip is regular waking time,” she says. “Not so much going to bed at the same time because we should be going to bed when we are feeling sleepy, but regular waking time is the most important part of a healthy sleep routine.”
