While temperatures flirt with 40°C in the middle of the day locally in France, at night the mercury does not really drop and can prevent you from sleeping. Moreover, sleep disturbances related to heat and global warming are particularly worrying.
Posted
Update
Reading time : 2 min.
:quality(50)/2023/07/18/64b62f4b247e0_maxstockworld320956.jpg)
Global warming has already made us lose, to each inhabitant of the planet, 44 hours of sleep per year on average. By the end of the century, we could lose up to 58 of them, if we keep the same warming trajectory. This is the equivalent of seven sleepless nights over the year (due to excess heat). These figures come from a study published last year, after analyzing the sleep of 47,000 people in 68 countries around the world.
>> Heat wave: what are the previous summer heat records near you?
More generally, these figures also showed that the probability of losing an hour of sleep, because you are hot and constantly tossing and turning in your bed, is multiplied by three, as soon as the temperature exceeds 25°C. outside.
Heat disturbs sleep so much mainly because it delays falling asleep, because it is physiological, our body needs to cool down to go to sleep. Older people may have even more difficulty sleeping in the summer than others, because their body no longer regulates temperature as well. Sleep loss, due to heat, is twice as high as the average, among those over 65 years old.
No cold shower
A few tips for cooling off, especially before going to bed: it is best to avoid cold showers, because even if they are pleasant at the time, they cause blood vessels to tighten, which raises body temperature more quickly afterwards. A lukewarm shower is preferable.
Finally, even if it is very hot, it is also advisable not to sleep naked, but to keep a sheet or loose cotton or linen clothing with you. Otherwise perspiration accumulates on the body, it is not evacuated and is not absorbed, which can make us catch cold in the middle of the night, once we are asleep.