Poor Sleep Can Make It Worse For Kidney Patients; Tips To Improve Sleep

If you have chronic kidney problem, poor sleep can make your suffering even worse, a new research has suggested, as per a report by HealthDay News.

Though it is not emphasised often, but short and disturbed sleep is something that people suffering from chronic kidney disease must keep in mind, the lead of the research, Dr. Ana Ricardo, said according to the report. Dr. Ricardo comes from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

"Our research adds to the accumulating knowledge regarding the importance of sleep on kidney function, and underscores the need to design and test clinical interventions to improve sleep habits in individuals with chronic kidney disease," Dr. Ricardo said in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology.

However, it is also understood that the study isn't conclusive at the moment. It only managed to find a connection between the lack of sleep and kidney failure.

The research involved 432 adults suffering from chronic kidney disease. Their sleeping habits were tracked between five to seven days of the week and their health for an average period of five years.

The participants of the research slept for average of 6.5 hours a night. Of them, 70 had kidney failure and 48 eventually died, the research said, the HealthDay report pointed out.

The researchers said an hour of additional sleep in the night time reduced the possibility of kidney failure by almost 20 per cent. Besides the duration, the quality of sleep is also important, suggested the report. Those who fail to have a sound sleep are more likely to develop kidney failure.

Here are 5 tips on how to improve your sleep:

1. Adjust yourself with your body's natural cycle of sleeping and waking up. Try to follow the same sleeping hours regularly, as that will leave you more energised compared to sleeping at different times.

2. Make the sleeping environment dark at night, so that melatonin, the hormone which regulates your sleep-wake cycle, is secreted more and you feel more sleepy when it is required. Give up late-night television viewing.

3. Exercise regularly. Those who do it feel less sleepy during the day time. Regular exercising treats the problem of insomnia and sleep apnoea and adds to the hours you spend in a sound sleep.

4. Choose your menu carefully. Avoid spicy and heavy food in the night as well as alcohol. Also, do not consume too many diuretic foods in the night, so that your sleep is not disrupted time and again in the night.

5. Prepare yourself for sleep. Practise some deep breathing, listen to soothing music, read a book to allow your nerves to settle down and gradually go to sleep.