A good night's sleep is key to good health.

• For some lucky people, sleep comes as soon as their head hits the pillow. For most of us, it's much harder. According to National Sleep Foundation polls, more and more Americans are getting less than eight hours of sleep per night every year. Chronic sleep deprivation has effects from mild to disastrous.

1. Several studies indicate that sleeping less than 8 hours a night leads to obesity.
2. A Harvard study found that the less people sleep, the more likely they are to suffer from a major illness.
3. People who sleep less than 5 hours a night are 60 percent more likely to get high blood pressure, a Columbia study found. According to a British study, they are alsotwice as likely to get heart disease.
4. People who sleep less than 6 hours a night increase by 50% their chance of getting a virus.
5. A Princeton study found lack of sleep leads the body to slow down production of brain cells.

Prepare your bedroom for sleep

To get a good night's sleep, you need the proper environment. Noises, light, and even temperature can ruin your shot at a full forty winks.Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. Otherwise,  your brain will associate bed with too many wakeful activities, preventing you from sleeping.

1. Turn your clock so you can't see the time. If you keep checking the time, it will make sleep more difficult.
2. Dr. William Dement recommends you keep light dim. Bright light will suppressmelatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep.
• Using your computer before bed will also suppress melatonin, a study in The Journal of Applied Physiology found.
• Television suppresses melatonin production in children, a study at the University of Florence showed.
• Dr. Eva Schernhammer says melatonin protects the body against cancer.

1. Intrusive sound will keep you awake.
• If noises from outside keep you awake, try wearing earplugs.
• White noise machines or fans can also protect against startling outside noise.

1. Your room should be cool, not warm.
• Your body temperature reaches its lowest point right about the time you go to sleep; an environment that prevents your body temperature from dropping will keep you awake.
• The temperature should be between 54 and 75 degrees, says the National Sleep Foundation.Your bed must be comfortable. An uncomfortable bed or pillow is a recipe for a night with little sleep.

Prepare your body for sleep

Get at least 15 minutes of sunlight when you wake up.

• Things you do throughout the day can affect your body's ability to sleep at night. Follow the schedule below to optimize your ability to sleep.
• Get up at the same time every morning. If you don't, you'll throw off your circadian rhythms and have trouble sleeping at night.Don't consume any more caffeine until morning .

1. • The half-life of caffeine - the time it takes for half the caffeine in your body to be eliminated - is six hours for most people, eight to eleven hours for women using birth control pills, and nine to ten hours for pregnant women.
   • If you are on the Pill or pregnant, you may need to cut off your caffeine intake even earlier in the day.
   • Many pain relievers and other medications contain caffeine.. Check before taking any medication.
2. No more naps until the following day. Any nap you take before this should be no longer than 25 minutes .
• A mid-afternoon nap three times a week lowers heart attack risk by over one-third.

1. Exercising in the late afternoon is especially sleep-promoting.
2. Avoid alcohol. Though you may fall asleep more quickly after drinking, Dr. Karl Doghramji says it will disrupt sleep later in the sleep cycle, making users wake up frequently during the night.

1. If you're eating a heavy meal, finish it now, any later and your body will keep you awake while it digests the meal.
2. Don't have that late-night cigarette! Avoid nicotine before bed, says The National Sleep Foundation It's also a stimulant.
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1. Use a small reading light so as not to lower your melatonin levels! Read a boring book if you can't sleep !

1. Take a hot bath - they have found that the body temperature drop after the bath will make you sleepy.

1. If you still can't sleep, talk to your doctor about taking sleep medications. Do not take them before speaking to your doctor, as you may have other issues that would make sleep medications a bad idea!