There is a scientific reason behind why humans tend to sleep more during winters and it is related to your hormones. Many people notice they feel more fatigued in winter, even though their overall sleep needs remain consistent throughout the year.

Sleep needs for most adults range from seven to nine hours per night, regardless of the season. However, it is common to feel like you’re sleeping more in winter due to the earlier onset of darkness during standard time.

Seasonal Sleep Changes

Recent studies indicate that humans, like some animals, experience subtle seasonal variations in sleep. Research conducted in Berlin found participants slept about an hour longer in winter than in summer, with 30 additional minutes of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep during the colder months. To note, REM sleep is crucial for memory, mood regulation, and immune function.

How Light Affects Sleep

Our sleep-wake cycle or the circadian rhythm is closely tied to sunlight. Bright light signals the body to stay awake, while darkness prompts melatonin production, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. During winter, shorter days and longer nights lead to earlier melatonin release, which may make you feel sleepier earlier in the evening. The same goes for the morning, late sunrise makes you sleep more.

However, social habits, like late-night outings during summer, can disrupt this rhythm. As per a clinical psychologist specializing in sleep, the body may struggle to adjust to sleeping earlier during winter nights, leading to delayed sleep onset or increased sleepiness.

Environmental Changes

Adapting To Winter Sleep Patterns

- Morning Light Exposure: Natural sunlight or light therapy using a light box can regulate your circadian rhythm and alleviate symptoms of SAD.

- Consistent Sleep Schedule: Maintaining regular sleep and wake times helps stabilize your internal clock.

- Creating a Sleep-Friendly Environment: A dark, quiet, and cool bedroom promotes restful sleep.

Additionally, workplaces and schools could consider later start times during winter to align with natural light patterns, enhancing alertness and productivity.

When Should You See A Doctor?

If seasonal sleep changes lead to depression or difficulty functioning, consult a healthcare professional. According to health experts, seeking support for seasonal depression is important for maintaining overall health and well-being.

While winter's shorter days can make you feel sleepier, understanding the role of light and adjusting your habits can help you navigate the season effectively. Embrace these changes, but don’t hesitate to seek help if you find yourself struggling with sleep or mood disruptions.

Have you or someone around you experienced nightly leg cramps that disrupt their sleep? While you may think of it as harmless, it is more dangerous than you realize. Warning people about the same, in a recent video on social media, Dr. Rema Malik Board-Certified Vascular Surgeon in Houston, reveals that this persistent, painful nighttime leg cramps are often a distress signal from your blood vessels, not just a simple mineral imbalance.

The doctor explains that this is not just a simple case of ‘charley horse’, which are muscle cramps that occur in the body, often legs. It is a phenomenon where the muscles in the body go through a spasm, meaning it contracts without your control and does not relax. While these may be the cause behind your leg cramps at night, there could be more to it than you realize.

What Causes Night Leg Cramps?

The most common reason for nighttime cramping is Venous Insufficiency. This condition occurs when the tiny one-way valves inside the leg veins weaken or become damaged. After spending hours sitting or standing throughout the day, these faulty valves allow blood to flow backward and pool in the lower legs due to gravity.

At night, this buildup of stagnant blood and fluid, which is full of metabolic waste products, irritates the local nerves and muscles. This irritation then triggers the intense, involuntary muscle contractions known as cramps, and it is also often associated with that uncomfortable, crawling sensation known as "restless legs."

Why Are Night Leg Cramps Dangerous?

A more serious cause of these cramps is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), particularly in its advanced stages, which is sometimes referred to as "rest pain." PAD develops when the arteries supplying blood to the legs become narrow or blocked by plaque buildup (atherosclerosis).

When the leg muscles are not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood—a state called ischemia—they begin to signal distress. If the blockage is severe, the muscles can be starved of oxygen even when the body is completely at rest, leading to crippling pain that serves as a critical, limb-threatening warning sign that requires urgent medical investigation.

Why You Should Not Ignore Random Aches And Pains

It is important to understand that persistent nighttime leg cramps should not be dismissed as simply a "normal part of aging."

While the risk of vascular issues like Venous Insufficiency increases after age 40 and PAD after age 50, the pain is a clear message from the body that something is structurally wrong with the blood vessels.

Ignoring this persistent pain can lead to serious health complications down the line. Therefore, if these cramps are a regular occurrence, seeking a consultation with a specialist, like a vascular surgeon, is necessary to correctly diagnose the underlying cause and begin appropriate treatment.

When Should You Get Your Muscle Cramps Checked?

According to MedlinePlus, most muscle cramps are harmless and disappear quickly, usually within a few minutes. However, you should call your doctor or healthcare provider if your cramps become severe or happen frequently. It's also important to seek medical attention if the cramps don't improve after stretching or drinking enough water, last a long time, or if they occur along with other concerning symptoms such as swelling, redness, a warm feeling in the area, or if you also experience muscle weakness.

A major new study published in the Lancet has found that record numbers of people around the world now have reduced kidney function, a condition known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). This makes CKD one of the most critical public health issues facing the world today.

The number of people struggling with CKD has more than doubled since 1990, jumping from 378 million to a staggering 788 million in 2023. This huge increase is primarily happening because the world's population is both growing and getting older, and CKD is more common in older age.

As a result, CKD is now one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide for the very first time. Approximately 1.5 million people died directly from the condition in 2023. This rapid growth shows just how quickly this disease is spreading and affecting lives globally.

How Does Kidney Affect Other Organ Health?

The study revealed that CKD is dangerous not just because it causes kidney failure, but because it also has a deadly connection to your heart.

Impaired kidney function puts stress on the cardiovascular system and is a key risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, contributing to about 12 percent of all heart disease deaths globally.

Furthermore, the condition severely impacts quality of life, ranking as the 12th leading cause of disability by limiting what people can do. The research also clearly pointed out the three biggest lifestyle and health factors that cause CKD: High Blood Sugar (usually from diabetes), High Blood Pressure, and High Body Mass Index (which is a measure of obesity).

What Are Some Early Signs of Poor Kidney Health?

To ensure you get timely help, it is important to know what some early signs of kidney disease are, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Less Energy or Trouble Concentrating

A buildup of toxins and waste in your blood, caused by poor kidney function, can make you feel very tired, weak, and may lead to difficulty focusing on tasks or thinking clearly.

Trouble Sleeping

Toxins that are not properly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys can remain in your system, making it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night.

Dry and Itchy Skin

When the kidneys can no longer keep the right balance of minerals and nutrients in the blood, it can lead to mineral and bone disease, causing persistent dry and itchy skin.

Urinating More Frequently

A need to urinate more often than usual, especially late at night, can signal damaged kidney filters, which increases the urge to go. This needs medical checking.

Blood in Urine

Healthy kidneys keep blood cells in the body, but damaged filters allow blood to leak into the urine. This may also indicate an infection or kidney stones.

Foamy Urine

Excessive bubbles or foam in your urine that look like beaten eggs and require multiple flushes to disappear can mean there is a large amount of protein (albumin) leaking into your urine.

Persistent Puffiness Around Eyes

Puffiness, especially around the eyes, is often a sign that your kidneys are damaged and leaking large amounts of protein into the urine instead of keeping it in your body.

Swollen Ankles and Feet

Decreased kidney function can cause your body to hold onto sodium (salt). This excess fluid retention then leads to noticeable swelling in your feet and ankles.

Poor Appetite

A general but important sign, a reduced appetite or feeling of sickness can be caused by the buildup of waste products and toxins in the body due to reduced kidney filtering ability.

Muscle Cramping

Impaired kidney function can lead to an imbalance of essential electrolytes, such as low calcium or poorly controlled phosphorus, which often contributes to painful muscle cramping.

Why Do We Need Early Intervention for Kidney Diseases?

The most hopeful finding is that most people with CKD are still in the early stages of the condition.

This is important because early detection and swift treatment can often prevent the disease from progressing to the point where dialysis or a transplant is needed, which are both dramatic and expensive interventions.

Doctors are urging for more urine testing to catch CKD before symptoms even appear. New medications have also become available in recent years that can slow down the disease and protect the heart.

Ultimately, the report strongly argues that since CKD is currently "underdiagnosed and undertreated," a massive, focused effort is needed globally to make sure patients can afford and access treatment as soon as they are diagnosed.

The World Health Organization’s November 2024 report revealed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. The condition was responsible for an estimated 3.5 million deaths in 2021 according to the latest available global data. COPD is a common and serious lung disease, and the WHO noted that smoking, indoor and outdoor pollution, and harmful inhalants are among its most significant triggers.

Children, too, are increasingly at risk due to high pollution levels, secondhand smoke and early-life respiratory infections. With winter pollution worsening across many Indian cities, especially Delhi NCR, experts say this is the right moment to revisit how COPD can be prevented through everyday habits and early interventions.

What COPD Really Is

COPD is identified as a chronic lung disorder that results in persistent breathlessness, chronic cough and long-term mucus production. According to the pulmonologist, the disease is a major global health burden linked to high levels of mortality and long-term disability across populations.

The condition develops slowly and often goes unnoticed in its early stages. Over time, narrowed airways and irreversible lung damage make breathing progressively more difficult. The pulmonologist explained that the air people breathe plays a crucial role in determining long-term lung health, especially for those living in severely polluted areas.

Why COPD Happens

COPD is primarily caused by the inhalation of harmful particles and gases. These include cigarette smoke, secondhand smoke, indoor pollution from biomass fuel, outdoor smog, chemicals, dust and repeated lung infections. The pulmonologist added that a small percentage of COPD cases are due to a rare genetic condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. In such cases, checking family history becomes important for early detection.

Preventing COPD: What Experts Recommend

Preventing COPD requires a comprehensive and consistent lifestyle strategy. While quitting smoking remains the single most effective step for protecting the lungs, the pulmonologist stressed that prevention goes far beyond just avoiding cigarettes. Clean air, healthy food, ideal body weight and regular vaccinations all play a key role.

The pulmonologist shared nine essential tips that can help significantly reduce the risk of COPD, particularly for people living in high-pollution regions such as Delhi NCR.

9 Essential Tips to Prevent COPD

• Avoid smoking completely and seek medical support to quit if necessary.
• Avoid secondhand smoke and maintain distance from people who smoke.
• Reduce indoor pollution by switching from biomass fuels to LPG, keeping windows open for ventilation and using air purifiers when required.
• Limit exposure to outdoor pollution. Wear a mask during high pollution days and stay indoors when air quality is poor. Consider shifting residence or workplace if the area remains persistently polluted.
• Use proper protective gear, including masks, if your profession involves dust, chemicals or industrial fumes.
• Avoid exposure to strong or irritating smells that can trigger respiratory issues.
• Maintain healthy lifestyle practices such as regular exercise and a balanced diet.
• Keep body weight within a healthy BMI range because excess weight worsens breathing and being underweight can increase vulnerability to more severe COPD.
• Ask a doctor about preventive vaccinations such as influenza and pneumococcal shots when appropriate.