Health in the Home

Southland Times, Issue 22131, 27 September 1933, Page 9

Health in the Home

(By

a Family Doctor.)

Recently, I was staying the night with some friends and sat up very late talking to my host. As we were going upstairs to bed I said I was afraid I had kept him up unusually late. “Oh, no,” he said, “I never take more than six and a-half to seven hours a night. If I do, I always find I feel much less on the spot the following day.” There is the old saying, “Seven for a man, eight for a woman, nine for a fool,” and although there are many exceptions to it, it certainly has a basis of truth.

“The amount' of sleep one requires,” I said, “is, I’m sure, largely a •matter of habit; and those who are used to rather short nights certainly feel the worse for it if they take an extra hour or two.” On going away from home people generally feel more sleepy and want more sleep, but after a while they get used to the new place and can reduce their hours. For those who can manage it regular hours for going to bed and getting up is the ideal thing. On regular hours one can certainly get along with less sleep than one can on irregular hours. It is sometimes unwise to put to bed old people with bad hearts. If they are more comfortable sitting up in a chair or on a sofa they should be allowed to do so. Sometimes they prefer to sleep in a chair at night and like to lean forward with their elbows resting on a pillow on a table.