Women of Warwick WI meeting
Wednesday 4th February 2015
5.30pm
M2, Radcliffe Teaching Centre
Committee members present:
Julie Taylor (President), Linda Pettifor (Vice-President), Maxine Thacker (Vice-President), Jane
Hutton (Treasurer), Lesley Preston (Assistant Treasurer), Sharon McGladrigan (Secretary),
Nicola Hunt (Assistant Secretary), Emma Sephton (Assistant Secretary), Ngan Dam & Elizabeth
Coyle (both Events)

Sue Coates attended from WFWI

Julie welcomed all.

Julie made following announcements:

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that we have made this month’s WI life magazine - article on how Warwick’s group got
started
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those who joined in January may not have received magazine, spares were brought to
the meeting
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How we can make a difference - Coppafeel campaign - checking for early signs of breast
cancer. We could work with Medical School to support this campaign and spread the
word
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Maxine & Julie going to WI Federation meeting in Warwickshire in March
-
new Activity days on our website - look on website if interested
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Women walk the world -29th April (ACWW links – the original reason our group was set
up following Julie’s visit to India). To raise money for charity. Warwick Sport involved
and could join a walk on campus, advertising this around Warwick. Julie will circulate
link. Posters ready-made that we can use in departments
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Desiree set up Facebook page for us
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live stream of NFWI Annual Meeting 4th June. Looking for location but need to please let
Julie know if interested by next session
-
Corunna news (WFWI newsletter) - bought 10 copies from funds to read and share in
the group. Can pass onto others if they would like to read them
Julie confirmed forthcoming sessions as follows:
March - Reflexology
April - Jewellery
May - Resolutions & cheese & wine
June - Hats
July - Mathematical knitting
August – Social evening
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Ngan & Elizabeth now co-ordinating the schedule. They will try to organise 6 months in
advance in the future. Any suggestions or people who could provide a session, please do let us
know.

Julie then introduced Professor Franco Cappuccio,

Sleep, Health & Society, led by Prof. Franco Cappuccio:
Notes from session
Importance of sleep, revealing signs through sleep.
Sleep encompasses all of the body from birth to death.
Develop research and teaching programme on sleep for Warwick. Sleep as teaching tool across
all disciplines in medicine.
What is sleep? Sleep through history been fascinating, compared to death and feared in
comparison to awake state = life. Still, sleep is a waste of time.
Sleep important function that needs to be protected and preserved.
Every creature sleeps, including plants and microorganisms. No sleep = death. Form of torture
in charter of human rights to deny sleep. Sleep is a state of vulnerability - see this clearly in
animals where half brain sleeps while half awake (Dolphins).
How we define sleep. Measured through state of brain and other functions. Brain waves- move
through stages of sleep. Muscle contractions. Eye movements. When go into REM - muscles
paralysis.
What affects sleep - fatigue, exercise, light, habit, food. Day/night cycle, propensity to fall
asleep (goes up in relation to time awake) & body clock are main draws to sleep.
Sleep science in 1950s - REM and body clock discovered. Body clock cells in the brain, only a
few hundred. Overridden by many other cues.
How many hours sleep are needed? Average sleep in Britain - 7 hours per night.
We spend one third of our lives asleep.
Does sleep contribute to disease?
Excessive daytime sleepiness symptom of bad sleep. Causes neurone habitual deficits e.g.
Alertness, concentration, memory. Also performance deficits e.g. Accuracy. If consistent over
time would cause ill health and increase chance of dying early and decrease quality of life.
Sleep deprivation (less than 5 hours on regular basis) - high risk of diseases = heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, cognitive impairment.
Prolonged lack of sleep associated with obesity? Likelihood of being obese and lack of sleep =
high chance of both, connected. Findings = decrease in obesity for every hour you sleep.
Association between lack of sleep and diabetes and lack of sleep and change of blood pressure,
also coronary calcification. All these affect women more than men, particularly blood pressure
and coronary calcification.
Short duration of sleep over lifetime - 28% higher risk of diabetes, 12% higher risk of premature
death, 15% higher risk of stroke - public health policy implications.
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Excessive sleepiness:
20% road accidents caused.
Shift worker sleep disorder.
Global disasters- many following inquiries, conclusion of human error due to lack of sleep.
Sleep deficit causes major road accidents and crashes, rail disasters.
Medical errors caused by lack of sleep- shifts tracked. Also risk of car accidents after shifts. Risk
increased with extended work shift- lack of sleep.
Jet lag - can't keep up with rapid changes in light-dark (time zones). Readjusts at slow rate. For
every time zone you need a day to catch up. 75% people need more than 24 hours, 25% less
than 24 hours for natural body clock. Harder to adjust going East than West. Remember what
people are doing in your destination and copy to try and cope with jet lag. Including
avoiding/staying in light.
Sleep problems relate to sociological contexts - parents, carers, pain.
Women sleep worse than men - likely social more than biological cause - role of women,
mother, wife, worker, carer etc. burden is different, worries and stress.
Ten top tips:
1) Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time - routine
2) Do not drink caffeine after tea time - lasts 3/4 hours
3) Be moderate with alcohol in the evening
4) Do not smoke in the evening
5) Do not eat fats near bedtime - 2/3 hours to digest. Have a light dinner instead
6) Do not exercise vigorously in the evening
7) Dim lights in the evening
8) Keep tv, ipad out of bedroom, read a book
9) Keep bedroom at 20 degrees
10) If wake up in the night, do something relaxing or try to go back to sleep, don't do
something active
Notes agreed to be accurate account of meeting
Signed:
Date:
Name/Position: Julie Taylor, President
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