Sleep is as critical as good nutrition and physical activity. Individuals who sleep less than 7 hours a night are prone to all major diseases-diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc. Individuals who are night owls apparently cannot make up for it by sleeping later in the day, probably because most of the do not! Seven or eight hours of good, restful sleep is ideal for health, well-being and longevity.

Individuals who work night shifts and those who work flex shifts have shorter telomeres and shortened lives. Of all Ben Franklin's common sense advice "Early to bed and early to rise" may be the best of all.

Common sense ways to enhance sleep:

• Have a routine! Go to bed regularly at the same time, giving yourself time to sleep 8 hours and still get up in adequate time to prepare for the day

• Do not eat within 3 hours of bedtime

• Do not consume alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime

• Do not drink anything caffeinated within 6 or more hours of bedtime

• Do not exercise vigorously within 3 hours of bedtime

• Consider a hot bath or sauna 3 hours before bedtime. Explore this as some people will do better even doing this shortly before bedtime

• Sleep in a relatively cool room, about 65 degrees or cooler

• If you still feel wound up at bedtime, use Air Bliss and/or do autogenic training at bedtime

• Obtain and use relaxation sleep inducing music: Steven Halpern's Best Music for Sleep Iasos' Timeless Sound or Angelic Music

• Try Silent Night® patches, from LifeWave

• If this does not work, add timed-release melatonin, 1 mg and each night increase by one if needed, up to 10 mg, as long as you wake up bright-eyed and ready for the day

• If this does not work, get a Fisher-Wallace Cranial Stimulator and use for one hour in the morning, finishing not later than noon.

C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.