Can adequate sleep help reduce the signs of aging?

Think of sleep as wrinkle cream that doesn't require a bottle. Internist and sleep medicine expert Carol Ash, DO, explains how healthy sleep habits reduce signs of aging.

Transcript

00:00

There is actually a lot of great evidence out there, and research has shown that sleep is one of those things that you can do and can focus on to improve the signs of aging.

00:11

One of the things that we focus on with sleep is making sure that you have a consistent schedule, and time

00:19

to bed and wake up time. What most people don't know, we kind of think, well, sleep, aren't we just supposed

00:25

to get the right amount of sleep at night, the timing? It's not all about the hours. Actually, the schedule is one of the key things

00:32

that you could focus on for several reasons. Number one, when you keep a consistent schedule or routine,

00:39

the biorhythms that are responsible for hormone release and regulation of your physiology are synchronized,

00:47

which is something a lot of people are not aware of. Not only is it important to have those biorhythms maintained.

00:54

We want to also maintain a regular pattern, because the hormones are actually released and regulated

01:01

based on those stages of sleep. So it's really important to make sure that you're getting up the same time every day, and trying to get to bed and be regular about it.