A recently screened TV program about the state of UK sleep produced some quite alarming statistics.  For example; one third of those Brits surveyed complained they don’t get enough sleep which means potentially 20 million of us are affected.

the quality of sleep is a major factor in our health

With the possible exception of food, sleep is perhaps the most critical factor in determining our health or lack of it.  Research from Cardiff University has shown that about 1 in 5 teenagers wake up in the night to check or post messages.  Some doctors now claim that poor quality sleep is “the primary mental health issue”  with Professor Colin Elspie at Oxford University stating that we are more than twice as likely to become unwell with a psychiatric disorder if we don’t sleep well.  Others claim it to be a “major public health concern” – which it is.

Of course, there are apps to help us deal with sleeplessness and activity trackers which can tell us specifically how bad our sleep actually is.  In the TV program, the question of whether technology could be causing these problems was raised but sadly not completely answered (of course it wasn’t!).

The top tips given for ‘sleep hygiene’ were:- stick to regular times to go to bed and get up; engage in some activity to wind down before going to bed (warm bath, relaxing music music), switch off gadgets/devices a few hours before going to bed (the point of this being so that your brain is not too active), and change your mattress as per guidelines of approximately every eight years.

So no mention of the now conclusive fact that the radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices alters our production of the night hormone melatonin which on its own can disrupt sleep to the quoted “nightmare of night time”.  (For more information about the role of melatonin read this previous article).  The Department of Health were asked to respond to the issues raised in the programme but were “unable to comment” (of course they were!).  And NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) said they were not able to issue guidelines yet as there is insufficient evidence (of course they did!).

Really, we need to wake up to the all-consuming harm our wireless world is causing us and stop denying there is a problem.  That means all of us – politicians, manufacturers, doctors, the media, salesmen and us, the individual.