If you’re sleepless in the summer — you can blame your cavemen ancestors

If you love summer but can’t get enough sleep with the warm temperatures and longer days, you are not alone.

There is a medical reason why late spring and summer have you tossing and turning instead of snoozing.

Dr. Sampson Davis, an emergency medical physician, said you can blame your caveman ancestors.

“The thing with sleep, which is interesting, is that we’re used to cooling environments, cave-like,” Davis said. “We need it to be cool, dark and uninterrupted. What happens with the summertime – it’s hot, and the days are longer. So that hormone called melatonin, which is released when the sun goes down tends to be released later, which makes summer sleeping a little bit more difficult.”

Davis said that even though most of us do get less sleep in the summer because we are so busy, our bodies still need the same amount of sleep year-round.

He encouraged people to make sleep a priority.

Why heat and sleep don’t mix

Your body produces melatonin naturally, and it helps manage your circadian rhythms, the body’s internal clock.

The hormone actually drops your core body temperature, according to a study.

The cooler body temp “reduces arousal and increases sleep propensity.” 

In kids, the evening rise in melatonin is responsible for 40-50% of the drop in core body temperature, according to another study. 

Melatonin levels drop with age. 

Summer heat also keeps the body warmer.

That not only makes it harder to fall asleep but also makes it harder to fall into a deep sleep which may make it harder to stay asleep, according to the National Institute of Health. 

The ideal room temperature for sleeping is 65-68 degrees for most adults, according to the CDC.

The obvious answer is to turn on the air conditioner, but not everyone has one.

Keeping the AC running all night at 65 is also pricey. 

Davis offered these tips to prepare your room for sleep during the summer:

• Keep the blinds and windows closed during the day to keep the heat out of the bedroom.
• Turn the AC cooler an hour before you plan to go to bed.
• If you don’t have an AC, open the windows and turn on the fan to get the cooler night air in.
• Try putting your mattress on the floor because hot air rises.
• Get rid of the pajamas and blankets, and make sure that you have breathable bedding. Natural fibers tend to be more breathable than synthetic materials.

The CDC, health professionals and journal research offered a few more tips to get you to sleep faster, help you sleep longer and wake feeling refreshed.

• Change the filters regularly, suggested the CDC.
• Make sure the fan is not blowing on your face. The air can dry out skin, eyes, mouth, nose and sinuses, according to the Mayo Clinic and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. That triggers mucus production, which could cause headaches, sore throats, stuffy noses and snoring.
• Dust the fan. Inhaling allergens and dust could cause sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose and difficulty breathing, according to a 2016 study published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Allergy sufferers may want to skip the fan.
• A 2019 study published in the Sleep Medicine Review also suggested taking a hot bath or shower an hour or two before bed. Scientists said that warm water stimulates blood flow to the hands and feet, which allows the body’s heat to escape to lower the core temperature.

Climate change could impact sleep

Sleeping may become more difficult in the future, one study found.

Dr. Kelton Minor at the University of Copenhagen, and author of the study, stated that due to a warming atmosphere, humans lost an average of 44 hours of sleep or six sleepless nights since the turn of the century.

By 2050, the study forecasts we will have 12 nights of shortened sleep and 15 nights by 2099 thanks to a changing climate.