Spending more time in the sun might help people who have been having trouble sleeping during the COVID-19 pandemic, a doctor said.
People who work from home and those who look at screens for long periods receive less sunlight and more blue light emitted by electronic devices, which can disrupt the body’s biological clock and affect sleep quality, said Lee Pei-lin (李佩玲), director of the sleep disorder center at National Taiwan University Hospital.
The hypothalamus regulates the circadian rhythm by adjusting physiological functions according to changes in lighting from day to night, Lee said, adding that adjusting work and rest periods according to sunlight might relieve insomnia symptoms.
Photo: CNA
The Health Promotion Administration in May released its latest Nutrition and Health Survey, which collected 7,541 responses from 2017 to 2020.
Respondents older than 19 slept an average of 7.5 hours on weekdays and 8.1 hours over weekends, up by six minutes and 18 minutes respectively from the previous survey, which was conducted from 2013 to 2016.
However, doctors said that sleeping longer does not mean sleeping better, and the time people spend in the sun has a direct influence on the cycle and quality of their sleep.
People aged 16 to 18 slept the least among all age brackets, with almost half of them sleeping less than seven hours on weekdays, the survey found.
About one-third of men aged 19 to 44 slept less than seven hours on weekdays, the national average, and 11 percent of them slept less than six hours on weekdays, it said, adding that both figures were lower in women.
Shan Jia-chi (單家祁), a physician at Cathay General Hospital’s department of psychiatry, on Sunday said that each person has different sleep needs, which are related to the interaction between genetic heritage and environmental factors.
Five hours of sleep might be enough for some people, but others might need eight hours of sleep, Shan said, adding that people aged 16 to 18 might sleep less due to school demands.
Insomnia has been observed in many people with COVID-19, along with other symptoms such as brain fog, coughing and tiredness, he said.
It is difficult to identify the exact cause of insomnia, but some people develop the condition after contracting COVID-19, he said.
Some people who used sleeping pills before contracting COVID-19 have said the pills became less effective afterward, he added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS