By Athena Karsera
DOES your partner snore? Get a new one.
This was just one of the pieces of advice to emerge from a conference this week on that most important element of our lives – sleep.
Experts addressing an audience at Nicosia’s Forum Hotel examined a whole range of sleep-related topics, from cot deaths to children’s nightmares, from beds to insomnia.
Wednesday’s packed conference – sponsored by mattress company Gevorest – was the highlight of ‘Sleep Week’ and was entitled ‘Sleep – Body and Soul’. It featured four guest speakers, all experts in fields connected to sleep.
Dr Paris Iacovides, child cardiologist, opened proceedings with an address on what is every parent’s nightmare – the phenomenon known as cot death, or sudden infant death syndrome.
Dr Iacovides gave valuable information on how to reduce risk, and exploded several myths about the issue.
What parents can do is for the mother not to smoke while pregnant or breast- feeding. Babies should also never be put to sleep on their front or be covered more than necessary.
The advice not to put babies to sleep on their front came as a shock to many members of the audience, who had previously thought this was perfectly safe. Dr Iacovides explained that the safest position for a baby to sleep was on its side.
And he reassured parents that theories blaming inoculations, certain types of mattress or even transatlantic flights for cot deaths had no standing whatsoever.
Dr Evstathios Papadopoulos, chiropractor, then spoke on how sleeping in the wrong position can affect the back.
While admitting every person was different when it came to the type of mattress required, he stressed that basic guidelines such as proper support, comfort, size and quality of the mattress were vital.
And if your partner keeps you awake at night by tossing and turning or snoring, Dr Papadopoulos said only drastic solutions would do: separate beds, separate rooms or a different partner!
Neurologist Dr Constantinos Pougiouros for his part informed the conference on insomnia.
He explained the basic causes of insomnia, stressing the importance of getting a good night’s sleep.
But he explained how, more often than not, the sufferer only believes something is wrong. For example, he said, as people get older, they need less sleep, and elderly patients often insist on trying to sleep more hours than they actually need to.
Doros Michaelides, a psychologist, was the last speaker.
Speaking on children’s nightmares, he differentiated between actual nightmares and what he described as “night terrors”.
The main difference between the two is that children will forget their ‘night terrors’ by the next morning, while often remembering nightmares. Children will not understand what they are afraid of during ‘night terrors’, but they can specifically recall what scared them in a nightmare.
And Michaelides blamed television, computer games and violent comics – factors that many parents often dismiss as harmless.
Diet, tiredness, not having a bed-time routine and fears picked up from parents also contribute to nightmares.
Michaelides said that parents should talk to their children about nightmares, if the child mentioned them. Night terrors, however, should not be brought up, as this may simply cause anxiety to the child.
