Waking up in the middle of the night can be frustrating—especially when you struggle to fall back asleep. But there are ways to help your body relax and drift off again without too much effort. Here are ten evidence-based strategies that could help you get the rest you need.

1. Block out disruptive noises

If a disturbing sound outside your window wakes you, try shutting it to block it out. You might also try using earplugs, turning on a fan, or listening to white noise. A 2021 research review found that white noise may improve sleep in some individuals, though results were mixed and more studies are needed.

2. Leave your bed

Try moving into a different room if you haven’t fallen asleep in 15 minutes. Then do something relaxing to distract your mind for a few minutes. This may make it easier to fall asleep when you return to bed.

3. Avoid staring at the clock

Staring at the clock may make you feel anxious about not sleeping. You might even consider getting rid of your alarm clock completely. Research published in 2019 suggests that anxiety and trouble falling asleep are associated. People who manage anxiety often worry about falling asleep, and people who have difficulty falling asleep often feel anxious.

4. Avoid screens

Turn off all your devices. Notification sounds may awaken you. Smartphones and other electronics also emit blue light that may suppress your body’s melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate your circadian rhythm and sleep cycles. Blue light-blocking glasses are an inexpensive option that may improve sleep, according to a 2021 research review, but research is mixed.

5. Meditate or try breathing exercises

A 2018 research review on the effect of mindfulness meditation indicates breathing exercises or meditating may help treat some aspects of sleep disturbance and improve sleep quality. One useful method is the 4-7-8 breathing technique: inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, then exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds.

6. Relax your muscles

One technique that some people may find helps them relax and sleep is performing a full body scan. Close your eyes, breathe slowly, and move your attention from your face down to your feet, relaxing each area as you go.

7. Sleep with the lights off

Resist the temptation to turn on the lights, even if you get out of bed. Bright light may interfere with your body’s melatonin production and wake you up.

8. Focus on something boring

Research from 2018 found that many people report feeling sleepy when bored. The classic “counting sheep” technique — or any uninteresting task that occupies your mind — may help distract you and make falling asleep easier.

9. Listen to relaxing music

Relaxing music may help calm your mind and block sounds that may disrupt your sleep. Personal preference plays a large role in determining what type of music is best, so experiment with different styles.

10. Try sleep apps

Sleep apps offer relaxing stories, music, and sounds. Apps like Calm and Headspace offer free trials, allowing you to see what works best for you.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved tradipitant to be sold under the brand name Nereus, for the prevention of vomiting induced by motion in adults — a first in the last four decades.

Motion sickness affects an estimated 65 to 78 million Americans—roughly 25 to 30 percent of adults—during everyday travel by car, plane, or boat. For decades, patients have had no meaningful new treatment options.

Tradipitant is an oral neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonist that prevents motion-induced vomiting in adults.

It is an oral capsule, often taken 60 minutes before travel to block signals causing nausea.

The drug by Vanda Pharmaceuticals is now commercially available across the US.

"Today marks an important milestone for the tens of millions of Americans who experience motion sickness symptoms during common travel," said Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, M.D, President, CEO, and Chairman of Vanda, in a statement.

How Tradipitant Prevents Motion Sickness?

Motion sickness occurs when the brain receives conflicting signals from the eyes, inner ear, and body while in motion. This sensory mismatch is believed to trigger the release of substance P, which activates NK-1 receptors in the central nervous system and ultimately leads to nausea and vomiting.

Tradipitant works by blocking these receptors, interrupting the vomiting pathway.

"NEREUS is a selective, high-affinity antagonist of human substance P/neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptors that can block the vomiting center of the brain,” Polymeropoulos said.

Tradipitant was approved by the FDA, following two pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials—Motion Syros and Motion Serifos—conducted under real-world conditions on the open sea.

Also read: India Installs US FDA-approved Portable MRI For Bedside Brain Scans At AIIMS Delhi

Both studies demonstrated that tradipitant significantly prevents vomiting compared to placebo, confirming the drug's effectiveness in actual sea travel conditions. It is the first new prescription option for people with a history of motion sickness in over 40 years.

It employs a novel mechanism as a selective, high-affinity antagonist of human substance P/NK-1 receptors. It offers simple dosing with just one or two capsules a day taken approximately an hour before travel.

Is Tradipitant Safe? Are There Any Side-Effects?

Read More: CDC Warns Over Potential Surge In Measles Cases: Will The US Lose Its Elimination Status?

According to Vanda Pharmaceuticals, tradipitant may impair abilities required for driving a motor vehicle or operating heavy machinery.

Combining tradipitant with sedatives or medications that increase the drug's levels may increase this effect. If use together cannot be avoided, your doctor may warn against driving or operating heavy machinery.

The most common side effects associated with tradipitant include drowsiness, headache, and fatigue.

Moreover, strong CYP3A4 inhibitors may increase NEREUS™ levels and the risk of side effects, the company said.

There are limited data on tradipitant's use in pregnant women and children.

Tradipitant is also not recommended in patients with liver problems or severe kidney problems.

Type 2 diabetes was once rare among the young. Now, it is a common diagnosis for Indians in their 20s and 30s. The country currently faces a massive health crisis with 101 million confirmed diabetic patients and 136 million prediabetics. This sudden spike did not happen because human genetics broke down overnight. It happened because the way we live has completely transformed.

Asians (Indians ) already have a " thin- fat " body phenotype, which has a heavy genetic disadvantage. Even when an Indian person appears thin, they typically carry a much higher body fat percentage than a European person of the exact same weight. This fat builds up dangerously as visceral fat around the internal organs. Because of this, Indians develop severe insulin resistance at a much lower Body Mass Index (BMI).

Secondly, we tend to have faster beta-cell exhaustion. The pancreas simply stops producing enough insulin earlier in life.

Thirdly, if you have a positive family history, then the risk is higher and happens at an early age as compared to the previous generation.

But definitely it is not just genetics. Our DNA remains exactly the same as it was a century ago. Still, the age of onset is dropping at an alarming rate. Data from the massive ICMR-INDIAB study reveals that the real "take-off" point for diabetes now sits squarely in the 25 to 34 age bracket. Out of all the people under 25 diagnosed with diabetes today, one in four has Type 2. It used to be very rare to see anything other than Type 1 in young adults.

Now, the situation is completely different. States like Goa, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are recording huge numbers, especially in city areas. Data collected in Tamil Nadu from 2006 to 2016 proved that the 20 to 39-year-old age group was getting sick at a faster pace than older generations. Across India, the total prevalence rate jumped from 7.1 percent to 11.4 percent. If current trends hold, we are looking at 152 million cases nationwide by 2045.

Why Diabetes Is Rising?

The absolute driver behind this youth explosion is a drastic shift in how we live. Urbanization wiped out physical activity. Young professionals sit at desks for ten hours, endure stressful commutes, and spend their remaining free time staring at screens.

Our diets worsened at the same time. Traditional balanced meals gave way to heavily refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed food, which the younger generation highly depends on. Polished white rice, refined wheat, and cheap ultra-processed foods flood our daily plates. Young people eat far less protein and fiber. This combination of daily sugar spikes and zero physical movement directly causes the abdominal obesity driving this epidemic.

The rapid rise in youth diabetes comes down to a severe gene-environment mismatch. Young Indians live in bodies biologically programmed to store fat to survive famines, but they now live in an environment of constant fast food and zero movement. We cannot rewrite our DNA. We can, however, change our daily habits.

As per RSSDI, early medical screening before age 25 is now an absolute necessity. Replacing heavy carbs with a low-carb, high-protein diet, fixing bad sleep schedules, and making time for daily physical activity can stop this crisis. Youth diabetes is entirely preventable. We just need to act before it is too late.

India holds the record for the highest number of blind individuals in the entire world. The impact that the fact can have on those who hear it should be enough to cause them to stop dead in their tracks. The fact that it is preventable makes it all the more problematic, more than just a number. According to experts from AIIMS, New Delhi, more than 85% of blindness is preventable in the country, and not due to an incurable disease or insurmountable genetic condition.

The overwhelming majority of instances of blindness in India are due to a lack of glasses, or could be prevented by a surgical procedure lasting approximately 20 minutes. And yet, we are left with millions of blind people.

What Is Preventable Blindness?

Preventable blindness refers to vision loss that could have been avoided through timely screening, treatment, correction, or surgical intervention. It is not the same as blindness caused by trauma, hereditary disorders, or conditions beyond medical reach.

The leading culprits in India are well-documented: cataract is responsible for 66.2% of all blindness cases, uncorrected refractive errors for 18.6%, glaucoma for 6.7%, and diabetic retinopathy for 3.3%. Every single one of these is either treatable or manageable with early detection.

Cataracts can be reversed in under thirty minutes. Refractive error can be corrected with spectacles that cost less than a meal at a restaurant. Diabetic retinopathy, if caught early, can be treated before it takes vision at all.

The tragedy of preventable blindness is not medical. It is systemic.

The Scale Of The Problem In India

India carries one of the heaviest burdens of vision loss in the world, and the weight is only growing. There are disparities regarding the burden of vision loss. There are about 75% of the resources and health infrastructure that are found in urban locations whereas there are only 27% of the population and most of the hundreds of millions of people living in rural India do not have access to see an eye doctor because they would need to take a day off work without pay, travel over one hundred kilometers, and pay for the office bill in cash out-of-pocket.

Most people do not try to see an eye doctor, and when they do, it is usually too late to treat the problem.

At the same time, the problem has been exacerbated by the rapidly aging population of India and the incidence of age-related disorders increasing, such as cataracts and the diabetes epidemic, which is one of the largest in the world, has been causing a massive increase in diabetic retinopathy, which will cause continuing loss of vision without proper detection. These are not isolated cases but rather a direct result of the failure of the health care system in India to keep pace with the growing number of diseases in the population.

What Can Be Done?

On the infrastructure side, the priority must be decentralization. Eye care cannot remain a service that lives primarily in urban hospitals. Vision screening needs to be integrated into primary health centers, school programs, and community outreach camps. The private sector, which runs over 70% of all eye care institutes in India, has a role, but so does public policy in incentivizing rural postings and strengthening district-level facilities.

On the workforce side, training mid-level ophthalmic personnel, optometrists, ophthalmic nurses, and vision technicians can extend the reach of a limited specialist pool significantly. Telemedicine-assisted models, where a technician in a rural camp transmits data to a city-based specialist for review, have already shown promise and need to be mainstreamed rather than treated as pilot experiments.

Early detection is arguably the most powerful lever of all. Most people in India visit an eye doctor only after vision loss is already severe. Routine screenings, especially for:

- Adults above 40

- People living with diabetes

- School-going children

Accessing vision care is not complicated. Availability is a major factor. Vision care must also be affordable to be accessible; currently, affordability is at the bottom of the list of priorities.

Examples of initiatives that have been implemented include subsidized cataract surgeries, free glasses for school children, free glasses for senior citizens, and community insurance models for eye care. All of these have been successful with valid results, and there’s plenty of evidence available that supports all these types of programs.

India can solve this. It has the necessary eye surgeon specialists, the model of care, and the evidence needed to make this happen. The issue preventing more people from receiving care, preventing blindness, which could be avoided, has always been a lack of awareness or attention to the problem to turn a statistic into an urgent need. At some point, we need to stop asking why this is happening and start asking why we will allow it to keep happening.