As temperatures rise, sleepless nights are on the rise. Some areas have already entered the rainy season. People tend to sleep less in summer than in winter, and many people suffer from poor quality sleep during the rainy season. We look at tips to improve the quality of your sleep. Read the article in this video > https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/life/... So, in this issue of #Everyone's Questions, we will focus on the following two points under the theme, "It's hot and it's hard to sleep...how can we improve it?" ●Is sleep time shorter in summer? ●How to improve the quality of your sleep ■Asking people on the street...what can we do to get through a sleepless night? Kaoru Sugawara, commentator for Nippon Television: "It's gotten so hot since last weekend that it's become difficult to sleep at night, so aren't you starting to feel like 'maybe I should turn on the air conditioner?' People on the streets are saying things like this too." Housewife (40s): "It's so hot that I sleep with the air conditioner on every day. My kids wake up because they can't sleep well, and then they can't sleep after that, so I decided to turn the air conditioner on." Food service worker (20s): "I'm not getting much sleep. I often wake up in the middle of the night. I get about five hours of sleep in total. I wake up every three hours, then go back to sleep for two or three hours." Sales worker (60s): "I cool down the room once before I go to sleep and turn the air conditioner off, but then I think 'it's still hot' in the middle of the night and turn it on again. I wake up feeling pretty sluggish and tired. In the end, it affects my work. I go to work tired. I'm fast asleep during my break at work." Commentator Sugawara: "It seems like everyone is having a hard time getting enough sleep." Announcer Suzue Nana: "I'm a little relieved to know that I'm not the only one...I set the air conditioner to turn off after about three hours, but it still wakes me up." Announcer Mori Keisuke: "I haven't turned it on yet, but I'm drenched in sweat in the morning." Saito Yuki: "Athletes value sleep, so I sleep with the air conditioner on. I get a good night's sleep." ■Why do we sleep less in the summer? Sugawara: "According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's 'Sleep Guide for Health Promotion 2023,' it seems that sleep time is about 10 to 40 minutes shorter in the summer than in the winter." Karikawa Kurumi: "Five or 10 minutes in the morning are really precious, so if you get 40 minutes less, I'm worried about the impact on your body. What is the reason for shorter sleep time in the summer?" Sugawara: "The main reasons are that in summer, the time between sunrise and sunset is longer, and the bedrooms are hot and humid. If the sun sets late, you will get sleepy late. And if it's humid and hot, it's difficult to sleep." ■ Recommended sleep hours by age group Sugawara: "So, how many hours of sleep should you get? According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's guide, adults are recommended to get 6 hours or more, elementary school students 9 to 12 hours, and junior and senior high school students 8 to 10 hours." "On the other hand, if the elderly sleep too much, it can be a health risk. For this reason, it is recommended that they do not stay in bed for more than 8 hours." Announcer Suzue: "Sleep patterns and amounts vary greatly depending on age. Kids these days are really busy, so even though my child is in elementary school, he can't get nine hours of sleep no matter how hard he tries." Announcer Mori Keisuke: "It's impossible, it's impossible. It's impossible on weekdays." Announcer Suzue: "The effects of not getting enough sleep are also a concern." ■More than half "feel unwell during the rainy season" Commentator Sugawara: "The rainy season hasn't started in the Kanto region yet, but it has already started in Kyushu and Shikoku. In a survey conducted in late May by chemical manufacturer Nippon Zeon among about 1,000 men and women about sleep during the rainy season." "In response to the question, 'Do you feel unwell every year during the rainy season?' more than half (54%) answered, 'I feel very unwell' or 'I feel a little unwell.'" ■22.9% of people feel unwell during the rainy season due to "sleep" Commentator Sugawara: "We asked these people what symptoms they have. 1 The number one problem was 'decline in motivation' (58%), followed by 'depression' (48.5%), 'headache/heavy head' (34.3%), 'tiredness' (32.3%) and 'getting tired easily/difficult to recover from fatigue' (24.3%)." "In sixth place was 'decline in sleep quality', experienced by 22.9% of people, or about one in five." Mori: "We hear the phrase 'sleep quality' a lot these days. It's embarrassing to say this, but I'm not sure whether my sleep quality is high or low." Saito: "It's difficult, isn't it? Announcer Suzue: "I think it's low." Caster Karikawa: "I think it's low." Caster Mori: "You want someone to judge the quality of your sleep." Commentator Sugawara: "Apparently, the key is whether you feel refreshed when you wake up." Beware of heat stroke due to poor sleep quality Commentator Sugawara: "What kind of effects does poor sleep quality have? We asked Naohisa Uchimura, president of Kurume University and chairman of the Japan Society of Sleep Research. He said that something we need to be particularly careful about in the coming season is that poor metabolism and hormone balance can make us more susceptible to heat stroke." "Physically, it increases the risk of obesity, dementia, and myocardial infarction. It can also affect the mind and thinking ability, making you feel tired and unmotivated, which can lead to more mistakes at work, and your attention can be distracted, which can lead to accidents, and it can even lead to serious situations." Caster Karikawa: "It's dangerous, isn't it? At my recent health check, I was told, 'Your brain is fatigued. You're still stressed. To relieve that, you need to improve the quality of your sleep.'" Announcer Mori: "I want to improve it, but I don't know how. It's not that getting plenty of sleep is enough, but as an adult you need to get at least six hours of high-quality sleep." ■ The deepest sleep is "the first three hours of bedtime" Commentator Sugawara: "If your sleep time is short, then that means the quality is low. We're entering a season where it's hard to fall asleep and it's uncomfortable to sleep, so what can we do to improve the quality of our sleep? According to Uchimura, you can first get some sunlight to regulate your body clock." "She says that the rainy season, with its many cloudy and rainy days, is the hardest time to regulate your body clock. Even when it's raining and the clouds are blocking the view, the sunlight, although weak, still reaches us, so in order to regulate it, it's good to get 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight in the morning." "And it seems that the first three hours of bedtime are the most important. You're supposed to sleep the deepest for three hours, then your sleep will gradually become shallower, and you'll wake up in the morning. That's why it's important to get a good night's sleep in the first three hours of bedtime." "To do that, you need to prepare your sleeping environment properly. When it comes to air conditioning, it's important to keep the room temperature at around 25 to 26 degrees. If it's above 28 degrees, it becomes uncomfortable to sleep and you're more likely to wake up," announcer Mori said. "I set the air conditioner to about 28 degrees, but would it be better to set it a little lower? Announcer Mori: "It probably depends on the size of the room." Commentator Sugawara: "If it's really hot in the middle of the night, it's probably best to leave it on until morning. Some people don't like air conditioners and sleep with the window open, but it's apparently not a good sleeping environment as it's loud and light comes in through the gaps in the curtains." Commentator Mori: "The sun rises early, so I wake up around 4:30." ■ Ask Caster Saito... Sleep tips Commentator Sugawara: "As an athlete, I'm sure you're particular about sleep. Tell us what you pay attention to." Caster Saito: "Ever since I was a baseball player, I've done my training in the evening, eaten an early meal, taken a bath, and fallen asleep when the temperature started to drop. I like to leave two to three hours between eating and sleeping. I like to go to bed with not much in my stomach." Commentator Sugawara: "Ever since I was a baseball player, I've done my training in the evening, eaten an early meal, taken a bath, and fallen asleep when the temperature started to drop. I like to leave two to three hours between eating and sleeping. I like to go to bed with "Uchimura said the same thing. If you find yourself feeling sleepy in the afternoon, it's a good idea to take a nap, but only for 30 minutes. Taking a nap longer than that will have the opposite effect, as it will affect the quality of your sleep at night." "I often do this myself, but apparently catching up on sleep on the weekend is a big no-no. It can actually throw your body's rhythm off, so please be careful." (From "news every." broadcast on June 17, 2024) ● Send us any anger or questions you may have around you. 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