Many people across the globe struggle to get a good night's sleep because of their increasing stress and change in lifestyle. As a result, they may gradually suffer from several chronic illnesses, including heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Restless sleepers could also gradually suffer from depression and may even have a shorter life expectancy compared to those who do not have difficulty sleeping.
Several past research reports have confirmed the connection between insomnia and mobile addiction. Is that the only cause for difficulty sleeping?
Also read: Don't get a wink of sleep? Try these 5 foods and sleep like a dog!
Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California Berkeley, has said night lights, noise, pressure from day-to-day lives and "open all hours" culture can also result in sleeplessness.
"The first thing is that we have to try and maintain regularity," Professor Walker, who is also the author of Why We Sleep, told Business Insider.
"And if there's one thing that you take away from this, it would be going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time, no matter whether it's the weekday or the weekend. Even if you've had a bad night of sleep, still wake up at the same time of day and reset," he added.
Past studies have also confirmed the link between irregular sleeping routines and health problems. According to research by the University of Arizona in Tucson, change in bed timings can increase the risk of heart diseases.
"The second thing is that we are a dark-deprived society in this modern era and we need darkness in the evening to allow the release of a hormone called melatonin. And melatonin helps the healthy timing of our sleep," said Walker.
However, the blue light emitted from the screens of digital devices can interfere with our body's hormones that help us fall asleep, reported Mail Online quoting a recent study.
"So try to dim down half the lights in your home in the hour before bed. Stay away from screens, especially those LED screens — they emit blue light that actually puts the breaks on melatonin. And those blue-light emitting devices fool your brain into thinking that it's still daytime, even though it's night time and you want to get to sleep," Walker said.
The professor also explained the connection between an optimal room temperature and a good night's sleep. According to him, too warm an atmosphere can cause sleep disruption.
"Many of us actually have a bedroom that's too warm in terms of temperature," he said, adding: "So an optimal temperature is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit or about 18 and a half degrees Celsius. And the reason is that your brain and your body need to drop their core temperature by about two or three degrees Fahrenheit to initiate good sleep.
"And that's the reason why you'll always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that's too cold than too hot. So having a cool room actually takes your brain and body in the right temperature direction to get good sleep."
A study by the Wayne State University at Detroit, Michigan, has also confirmed the link between insomnia and caffeine. The researchers from the university have said that drinking few cups of coffee hours before bedtime can cause sleeplessness.
"Many of us know that caffeine can keep us awake. It's an alerting chemical, it's a stimulant in terms of a class of drugs. But few people know that even if you can have a cup of coffee after dinner and you fall asleep fine and maybe you stay asleep, the depth of the deep sleep that you have when there is caffeine within your brain isn't as deep as when you've abstained from that cup of coffee after dinner," Walker said.
"So as a consequence, you wake up the next morning, you feel unrefreshed and you don't remember waking up or having a difficult time falling asleep but now you find yourself reaching for two or three cups of coffee in the morning and you develop this dependency, this addiction cycle."
