This year’s theme for World Sleep Day is ‘sleep well, live better’. Good sleep is essential to overall health and wellbeing; it promotes wellness and resilience across all aspects of the body and mind. Sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise.

It’s time to make your sleep health a priority!

How good asthma management is related to sleep

Asthma symptoms can disrupt your sleep, and sleep disturbances can in turn affect asthma control and quality of life. This means that poor asthma control is linked to worsened sleep quality, whilst poor sleep quality can be a sign of poorly controlled asthma.

About 1 in 3 people with asthma have sleep disturbances – this is associated with worse asthma symptoms, poor quality of life and increased asthma-related healthcare utilisation.

Key signs of good asthma management include:

• no night-time asthma symptoms
• no asthma symptoms when waking up.

What is healthy sleep and good-quality sleep?

Signs of healthy sleep include:

• having a regular sleep–wake cycle
• getting enough sleep each day
• enjoying good-quality sleep. 

Signs of good-quality sleep include:

• falling asleep easily
• staying asleep through the night
• feeling refreshed after sleeping.

If you experience any asthma symptoms during sleep or when waking up, this may be a sign that your asthma is not well-controlled.

Signs of poor asthma control

People with asthma experience symptoms in different ways. Experiencing any type of difficulty breathing when sleeping or waking up should not be ignored.

Frequent night-time symptoms are an indicator of an increased risk of asthma flare-ups.

Do not accept night time asthma symptoms as ‘normal’, including:

• coughing
• wheezing
• shortness of breath
• chest tightness.

Take the National Asthma Council Australia’s asthma control check to see if your asthma is well controlled.

How to improve asthma management

• Take your medications as prescribed by your doctor and check that medications are not expired.
• Ensure that you are using your asthma inhalers correctly. Incorrect device technique may mean that the medications are trapped in your mouth or throat instead of reaching the airways where they are needed.
• Schedule an asthma check-up with your doctor. This is a great opportunity to ask about sleep when discussing your asthma symptoms and have your asthma action plan reviewed.
• Improve your sleep environment by minimising or removing common triggers for asthma and allergies such as dust mites, mould spores, pollen and volatile organic compounds.

Look for the blue butterfly

The Sensitive Choice program helps people identify asthma and allergy friendly products. All products and services with the iconic Sensitive Choice blue butterfly have been rigorously reviewed and approved by an independent expert panel that determines their potential benefit to people with asthma and allergies.

See Sensitive Choice approved products for the bedroom.