Health
Struggling to fall asleep? Try this simple trick to drift off quickly
For those who are struggling to get enough sleep, the ABCs may be the key to getting more Zzzs.
A sleep shortcut that’s making the rounds on TikTok uses the alphabet to help people drift off.
Sleep experts shared their input on the unconventional route to restful nights.
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The technique isn’t new, but it’s been circulating on social media in recent weeks.
Here’s how it works: The wanna-be sleeper chooses a category — whether it’s song titles, vacation destinations or anything that strikes their fancy — and then thinks of something for every letter of the alphabet.
A sleep shortcut that’s making the rounds on TikTok uses the alphabet to help people drift off. (iStock)
For instance, if the category is colors, A might be Aqua, B could be Blue, C could be Chartreuse, and so on.
The idea is that, over time, the exercise will lull the person to sleep.
There are other variations of the alphabet hack, such as picturing each letter being written and erased to help induce sleep.
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Sleep expert Jeff Kahn, the Chicago-based CEO and co-founder of Rise Science, maker of the sleep and energy tracker app RISE, pointed out that the alphabet method hasn’t been studied, but that it likely works by distracting the person from focusing on the inability to sleep.
“This is how the larger category of distraction techniques can help with sleep, anxiety and managing pain, among other challenges,” he told Fox News Digital.
“You can’t force sleep — and thinking about falling asleep or about how you can’t fall asleep is a surefire way to delay it.”
If lack of sleep is interfering with your quality of life, experts recommend speaking with a doctor about getting assessed for a sleep disorder or other underlying medical conditions. (iStock)
Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist at Wesper in New York, noted that many people experience an overactive mind when they’re trying to sleep, which makes it difficult for the brain and body to relax — leading to insomnia and poor sleep quality.
“The alphabet hack forces you to stop focusing on stimulating or stressful thoughts, which calms your brain activity and helps the brain enter the first sleep stage,” she told Fox News Digital.
Alternative sleep hacks
If the alphabet method doesn’t work, there are other creative techniques that could help you fall asleep.
“Alternatives include meditation and deep breathing exercises, which focus on not only quieting the mind, but also slowing your heart rate and breathing, which make it easier to enter sleep,” Rohr said.
“You can’t force sleep — and thinking about falling asleep is a surefire way to delay it.”
If none of these techniques are effective, he recommends getting out of bed and going to another quiet, dim area to do a relaxing activity, like reading or listening to music, until you feel sleepy.
Kahn agreed with that advice.
“You can’t force sleep — and thinking about falling asleep or about how you can’t fall asleep is a surefire way to delay it,” an expert said. (iStock)
“A good rule of thumb is, if you can’t fall asleep within 20 to 30 minutes, abandon the pursuit, leave your bed, and do things that are relaxing and distracting, in low or as little light as possible,” he advised.
“Let sleepiness wash over you, which it will, and then head back to bed. Sleep doctors call this a ‘sleep reset.’”
Another technique that works for a lot of people is progressive muscle tension and relaxation, both experts said.
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“A warm shower immediately before bed also helps to drop your core body temperature quickly once you get out, which stimulates the brain to feel sleepy,” Rohr added.
Optimizing sleep hygiene
“Decades of sleep science research shows that having excellent sleep hygiene is your best bet to regularly fall sleep, stay asleep, and to feel and function your best while awake,” Kahn told Fox News Digital.
Optimizing your sleep hygiene is the best way to “regularly fall sleep, stay asleep, and to feel and function your best while awake,” a sleep doctor warned. (iStock)
Common best practices include keeping a very regular sleep schedule, cutting off caffeine 12 hours before bedtime, avoiding late meals and alcohol, getting sunlight every morning — and keeping your bedroom as cool, dark and quiet as possible.
When to seek help
If you’ve tried everything — including optimizing your sleep environment and routine — and lack of sleep is still interfering with your quality of life, experts recommend speaking with a doctor about getting assessed for a sleep disorder or other underlying medical conditions.
“Because anxiety about sleep can precipitate more sleeplessness and sleeplessness feeds anxiety, I recommend seeking help sooner rather than later,” Kahn said.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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