(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - Nearly 70 percent of college students are sleep deprived. So for students transitioning from high school to college, adjusting to the new academic responsibilities, social activities - and lack of structured sleep routine from high school - can be tough.
College dorm rooms can be hot, noisy and uncomfortable -- all of which robs students of sleep and can cost them in the classroom. Lack of sleep has a wide range of effects and makes students more vulnerable to everything from infections to diabetes - even high blood pressure.
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For a crash course on getting a good night’s sleep, Aneesa Das, MD sleep specialist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, offers tips to get the best shut-eye:
- Room should be cool, dark and quiet
- When you wake up in the morning try to get the room as bright as possible
- Turn off screens 30 mins before bed (blue light from screens hinders ability to fall asleep)
- Never fall asleep with TV or computer on
- Too loud? Keep earplugs nearby
- Can’t sleep? Take a shower! (but NOT a cold one)
- “Take a warm shower 2 two hours before bedtime so that as the body naturally cools down it induces sleep.”
- Avoid all-nighters at all cost -- once you lose sleep, you never get it back!